In My Words: Building resilience — developing Situational Judgment Tests in a co-learning environment

Nicola Murray is the winner of the fourth Indigogold Work Psychology Innovation Award, for her MSc project ‘Building Resilience: developing and evaluating a Situational Judgment Test for teaching professionals working with Special Educational Needs (SEN)’.

In her own words, Nicola explains how creating a co-learning environment engaged teachers’ experience to develop a more accurate test, fostering more open conversation about challenges in the workplace.

I undertook an MSc in Occupational and Business Psychology because I feel that we can learn much about the underlying human condition as it presents in the workplace if we examine it through a psychological lens. I wanted in particular to examine the factors impacting on how we perform at work.

My keen interest in resilience can be attributed to my wonder at how some professionals I have encountered during my career seem impervious to workplace setbacks, and thrive in what are sometimes toxic conditions, bringing positive change without wrecking their health. More recently, my interest in resilience has extended from the business sector where my identity as a career woman is anchored, to include the educational sector where my identity as a working mother finds its foothold. Staff attrition in the educational sector is a growing epidemic in western countries.

The aim of my study was to apply a commonly used assessment and recruitment method in a novel way, investigating the potential of the Situational Judgment Test (SJT) as a resilience-building intervention.

“My study provides insights into the value of adopting an engaged-process approach to build resilience”

Initially applied to teaching professionals working with Special Educational Needs children, a future application would be as an industry-agnostic platform for more skilled practitioners to share their procedural knowledge — gained through years of learning on the job — with early-career practitioners.

Additionally, it could be a means to measure individual traits and modulating variables that aid individuals in expanding their ability to bounce back, and even thrive, after experiencing setbacks in the workplace.

Results showed, for most workplace situations, discernable effective and least effective approaches to dealing with adverse situations. Furthermore, my findings suggest that repurposing the SJT method has the potential to inform early-career teacher training and individual feedback for development, and provide a mechanism for continuing professional development.

The study highlights the prospective applied value of the SJT-based method developed in terms of reducing attrition levels and employee stress, and improving retention and wellbeing in a world imbued with complexity.

My study provides insights into the value of adopting an engaged-process approach to build resilience. Employees leverage their collective knowledge and experience in interventions designed to provide an atmosphere of trust, sharing and reciprocal learning, aiming to enhance employees’ capacity to withstand workplace setbacks, dial-down any unhealthy stress response mechanisms, improve wellbeing and, consequently, their ability to sustain optimum performance in their roles.

In conclusion, the Award event itself exceeded my expectations — all 15 research projects submitted for award consideration were put through their paces in a collaborative setting where the two universes converged. The event involved rich exchanges with the judges, insightful questioning and stimulating dialogues.

While I valued the opportunity Indigogold provided for me to share my findings with both experienced practitioners and skilled academics, I also hope my research will be directly relevant to business as a facilitation tool, readily adaptable and implementable in any sector where employee resilience is a key focus.

By Nicola Murray, winner of the Indigogold MSc Work Psychology Innovation Award 2016/2017.