Absenteeism in the UK is at a record high. And with the long-term effects of COVID, the rise in chronic illness and stress, organisations are having to pivot towards new strategies that not only keep their people healthier but build resilience long-term.That's why we brought in Richard Hammond, TV host from BBC's famous Top Gear, for a transformative conversation all about resilience, recovery, and workplace wellbeing.After overcoming two life-altering accidents in 2006 and 2017, Richard shared his personal story of how he rebuilt and re-thought his approach to work and health and will help you learn how to: Build Resilience: How to prepare your business for the unexpected, with strategies to support employees through adversity.Support Recovery: Practical ways to aid employees in their journey back to work after health challenges.Create Work-Life Balance: Insights on creating a sustainable workplace culture that prioritises mental wellbeing.Building Resilience with Richard Hammond: 3 Things to RememberBuilding resilience in the workplace has been a high-priority topic for HR leaders across the world in recent years. With so many unexpected challenges and uncertainties that have arisen since the pandemic, many workplaces have found themselves unable to pivot and truly remain adaptive in the face of adversity. But the organisation that stand the test of time will be the ones that anticipate these challenges and have the fundamentals in place to tackle whatever setbacks they or their employees may face.In the spirit of resilience, we partnered with MetLife to bring in one of the most resilient people we could think of when it comes to facing unexpected challenges in the workplace—Richard Hammond, Former host of BBC’s Top Gear. Richard had one of the most unusual jobs you could have: driving high-speed cars on television. But with high-speed vehicles also come high safety risks. Unfortunately, he’s experienced not one but two near-death experiences on the tracks that left him and his perspective on life forever changed. This week, he graciously shared his experience to offer leaders insight into how they can approach employees who’ve faced adversity with resilience, and preventatively create a workplace that allows wellbeing and resilience to blossom—and provided lessons for us all when it comes to facing life’s unexpected turns.The moment of impactIn 2006, it was yet another day on the job for Richard as he drove a final lap in yet another specialty, high-speed car. But this time, he was operating a particularly fast vehicle, capable of surpassing a British Land Speed Record. But everything came to a screeching halt once he hit 319 miles an hour and one of his tires gave way.“The right tire delaminated,” Richard recounted. “So that's the outer layer, and it came off. And I remember thinking: ‘something's gone wrong’. The car's starting to slew to the right. I remember engaging with the controls, but not very clearly, and then it went to the right, and it started to roll. I knew, ‘well there's no roof on this car’. I was doing 300-plus miles an hour. And I thought—now I die.”But Richard thinks of the moment he flipped in that car, and he didn’t describe it as ‘scary’ as you would think it’d be. “There was no fear. There are 3 states: there's this fight, flight, but there's also freeze. Which is that state that we go into when there is nothing you can do,” explained Richard. “It was like answering a question: when's it going to happen? We all know that's coming,” he recounted. And he wholeheartedly believed in that moment:“This is how it happens for me.” The helicopters were on-site in a flash, and Richard was flown off to the hospital where he’d be placed in a medically-induced coma for the following 2 weeks to allow his brain swelling die down. He was left with no physical injuries to speak of, but a severe brain injury that would leave him with year’s of recovery to endure. “In my case it was crashing a dragster at 320 miles an hour, but whether it's being shot, or falling off a ladder cleaning a window…the path to recovery and the experiences are very, very similar, regardless how it happened. So I remember being aware I must have been hurt because I was in hospital. but I didn't understand why. Because with a brain injury—the very thing with which you have to assess the damage is the thing that's damaged.”He soon had to face a long time of short-term memory loss—being able to retain nothing more than a minute of memory before forgetting again. And in 2017, it happened again. And while second one didn’t result in any further brain injury, he was yet again thrust into a near-death crash that left him with several broken bones. So how was it trying to recover from such traumatic experiences, and return to the workplace only months later having to navigate these new limitations and difficulties? He outlined a few key factors that allowed him to recover in a healthy and productive way that all leaders should take note of: 1. Everyone’s journey is uniqueSomething Richard made very clear in our discussion is that while brain injuries often require the same kind of attention and generate the same types of symptoms—everyone’s journey and manner of recovering will be different. By crafting a workplace that understands individual uniqueness and needs and being open to working with the individual, you can significantly aid in an employee's recovery upon their return to work. “Whatever you’re recovering from, you will set your own pace,” expressed Richard. “There's no normal to aspire to. Nobody else, is you. So nobody's ever been hurt the way you have. If you've been hurt, physically, mentally, however, it's unique. So your recovery is unique, and it's yours, and it is full of opportunity.” It’s vital to create a space where individuals can express themselves openly as they are, and feel safe to not try and aspire to be a different kind of normal to adhere to the workplace can be a huge relief and not only give employees peace of mind that they would be heard and seen should something happen, but it’s much less strain on an individual that’s affected. Richard recounted how he returned to work quite quickly, and in a profession that you can’t really ease back into, he noted how crucial it was for the people around him to be supportive and by his side every step of the way. “As an employer or somebody in Hr, that is something again that you should have on your radar. If somebody is long term ill injured, recovering, You have a duty of care towards the person that works with or for you, but they're but you also have a duty of care to those attached to them, don't you? Because they are part of their life.” And that’s where having diverse group protection policies like Income Protection can be vital—not only to provide a necessary income for your employee, but to help maintain the needs of their family and surrounding support group. The more holistic and individualised you can make your benefits, insurance products and overall workplace culture—the better chance your people have at being able to recover from something and get back on their feet. Regardless of the experience. “You can't be involved enough. You can't be gentle enough. But it is a really big job as an employer again wherever you fit into the picture of somebody's life, helping them back into work,” expressed Richard. “None of us want to go on and on about it—but sometimes we need people to remember.”2. Hurt is deeply personalWhen an employee is in need of support after a difficult time, it’s common for managers to expect the person to explain or have everything they need figured out. But these aren’t always the easiest things for employees to express.“[You need to] support the whole person,” said Richard. “You have to give them space to tell you what's wrong, or show you or share it, because otherwise you can't make the allowances, the accommodations that they may or may not need. You're stepping into a very personal space with them to address that. And that's a privilege.”It’s not an easy thing to disclose traumatic events and admit vulnerability in the workplace, because vulnerability and work have never truly co-existed until today. This is where the pre-work of creating healthy, psychologically safe spaces is vital in order to prepare for the unexpected. If you’re anticipating the injured employee to be able to fully express their needs and be able to share their inner experience, “you're asking a lot of them to do that because they're also under stress. They've been horribly unwell. They've been injured, they've suffered in whatever way. And at that moment you're saying, hey! Do you want to share a really personal aspect of your life with somebody that you work with?”Approaching with compassion, allowing space for them to change their minds and taking on that role as a leader and supporter to offer up solutions is key. 3. Wellbeing must be as accessible as possibleSince his injury, Richard has sworn by his simple, daily wellbeing habits. Because even if one ahs been through a difficult time, it’s ultimately in their hands how they allow it to affect them. “I'm really keen to talk about making that business of exercise and maintenance accessible,” said Richard. “You have to get to know yourself well enough—above all else, I know I will come downstairs in the morning an make myself a coffee, I deliberately have a really fiddly coffee machine where you've got to grind it, press the beans and all that, and then I'll sit there, savouring my coffee, maybe glancing at a crossword and listening to the radio, thinking if I spin this out for another 10 minutes, I'll be too late to go to the gym. I also know that the other side of that door there's a happier, more balanced, more positive, more productive. Me, and I've just got to go in there and find him.”As employers, making wellbeing habits and practises as accessible as possible is a great way to inspire recovery in your teammates. This could be as simple as encouraging flexible hours in the workplace, building a true sense of psychological safety in the workplace and leading with compassion in how you approach each person and situation. If you want to build a team that’s going to recover and continue to bring their best selves to work, especially after difficult events, you have to first establish a space where people know they are supported, and have the tools readily available for them to take advantage of. “It's probably very very difficult to say: ‘I'm going to make this a good thing,’ but life is going to go on for you anyway in whatever shape it now has. If it's been changed, it's going to go on. It's still your life, and it's up to you to decide: ‘That is my one life. I'm going to make that a good thing in my one life.’ It's changed things, but change doesn't have to be bad, however significant.“I can feel how that could be hard to hear, and I understand if that's exercised you and you're thinking, ‘well, hang on a minute. Look what's just happened to me,’ but it still hasn't happened to you until you've responded to it. And you have control over that.”Taking control of your wellbeingThis is your chance to take that control back as an organisation and allow your company to be a place where people feel they can have control over their health and wellbeing. And that’s why at YuLife, we offer EAP programmes and a benefits platform that offers a range of holistic wellbieng support so your team has access 24/7 to whatever type of support and care they may need—even before an event takes place that requires it. With elements of gamification weaved in, they have the power to select what wellbeing means to them, and benefit from various resources. By simply offering EAP programmes and benefits that are holistic, anonymous and completely self-operated you can empower your people to take control of their health early. But most of all: you are setting the tone for what kind of organisation you want to be. The more you can inspire wellbeing everyday for everyone, the better your team is going to be able to recover after times of crisis.About YuLifeYuLife is working to reimagine the insurance industry by protecting lives, rewarding living and inspiring life. We’re on a mission to transform traditional insurance into a life-enhancing experience each employee will value and use daily. How does it work? Our award-winning app uses behavioural science and game mechanics to reward your people for living well while offering protection in case of crisis. And with our top-rated employee assistance programme, your team gets access to mental, financial and social support, virtual GPs, nutritionists, life coaches and more to help them live their best lives.Because we believe that your employees should benefit from their insurance from day one — and that wellbeing should be accessible every day, for everyone.Request a demo for your team today.About MetLifeMetLife Europe d.a.c. is an affiliate of MetLife, Inc. and has been in the UK since 2007, providing innovative protection, employee benefits and retirement solutions.Founded in 1868, MetLife, Inc. is a global provider of life insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management. Serving 100 million customers worldwide, MetLife has operations in over 50 countries and holds leading market positions in the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. For more information, visit www.metlife.com.