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19 Sep Now is the Time: Why inclusion can’t survive without resilience

Posted at 10:53h in Articles & Blogs by

Inclusion is under pressure and the stakes have never been higher. This year’s National Inclusion Week theme, “Now is the Time”, captures the urgency many organisations are experiencing. With tightening budgets, economic instability, and even backlash against diversity initiatives, inclusion professionals are being asked to do more with less – while still delivering measurable, lasting impact.

Inclusion and resilience are deeply connected. Research from Harvard shows that psychological safety is the foundation for both inclusion and resilience – enabling people to speak up, adapt, and recover from setbacks (Edmondson, 2019). Deloitte’s Human Capital Trends report highlights that inclusive workplaces are more resilient because they build belonging and engagement (Deloitte, 2023). And the CIPD stresses the need to invest in “psychological capital” – resilience, optimism, and self-belief – as a lever for both adaptability and inclusion (CIPD, 2025).

In other words, you can’t sustain inclusion without resilience – and resilience struggles to develop in environments that aren’t inclusive. Now is the time to treat them as two sides of the same coin.

The resilience gap in early careers

Recent data paints a stark picture:

  • Nearly half of graduates lack resilience (Personnel Today, 2025).
  • One in three young workers took time off for stress last year (Personnel Today, 2025).
  • Resilience is consistently ranked as one of the most in-demand yet underdeveloped skills in the workplace (WEF, 2025).

This is more than a wellbeing issue, it’s a business challenge. Without resilience, early careers talent risks disengagement, burnout, and attrition. The investment organisations make in graduate schemes and early talent programmes is wasted if new hires cannot adapt, sustain performance, and contribute to diverse teams.

Inclusion needs resilience

True inclusion is not a one-off initiative – it requires consistency in environments where pressure, pace, and change are the norm. If we want inclusion to last, we need people who can stay engaged, adapt, and contribute meaningfully, even when conditions are tough. That’s where resilience comes in.

But resilience isn’t built by telling young talent to “toughen up” or “sink or swim.” That approach only reinforces exclusion. Instead, resilience comes from:

  • Psychological safety: Young professionals need to feel their voices are heard without fear of judgment (Edmondson, 2019).
  • Balanced challenge and support: Stretch builds growth, but only if it’s matched by mentoring, coaching, and recovery time.
  • Confidence-building: Tackling imposter syndrome and giving early responsibility helps talent believe they belong.
  • System awareness: Line managers must understand that resilience isn’t a fixed trait; it can be built, supported, and strengthened.

These are the same conditions that make inclusion sustainable. Inclusion fails when pressure peaks and people default to old hierarchies or behaviours. Resilient individuals and teams are more able to hold the line, adapt, and maintain inclusive practices when it matters most.

From potential to performance

At Fieri, our work in early careers development focuses on bridging the gap between potential and performance. We’ve seen how practical resilience strategies, adapted from sport and the military, make a difference:

  • In sport, athletes train for peaks and troughs, building coping strategies before the highest-pressure moments.
  • In the military, young recruits are supported through challenge and taught to rely on their teams – resilience is never built in isolation.
  • In business, early careers professionals face the same reality: without deliberate preparation, workplace pressure can overwhelm.

The outcome is not only stronger individuals, but more resilient, inclusive teams. When early careers talent is equipped to thrive under pressure, they are better able to contribute, innovate, and stay the course.

Now is the Time

The urgency behind this year’s National Inclusion Week theme is impossible to ignore. Economic and social headwinds mean that both inclusion and resilience risk being deprioritised – treated as ‘nice to haves’ rather than business-critical priorities. That would be a costly mistake.

When resilience is underdeveloped, organisations face wasted investment in graduate schemes, higher turnover, stress-related absence, and untapped potential. By contrast, building resilience pays dividends: stronger retention, higher engagement, and inclusive workplaces that hold steady when pressure mounts.

Now is the time to treat resilience as the foundation of sustainable inclusion – not only to protect individuals, but to strengthen the long-term adaptability and performance of our organisations. 

References

Edmondson, A. (2019). The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth. Harvard Business School.

Deloitte (2023). Human Capital Trends 2023.

CIPD (2025). Developing Psychological Capital for the Future of Work from CIPD Festival of Work 2025.

McKinsey & Company (2020). Diversity Wins: How Inclusion Matters.

Personnel Today (2025). Young people are less work-ready, say employers.

Personnel Today (2025). Younger workers are more prone to burnout, finds study.

World Economic Forum (2023). Future of Jobs Report.