Our groundbreaking research has uncovered a critical blind spot in talent management: your highest performers may be your most vulnerable employees. At Keystone Partners, we’ve discovered that the relationship between performance and resilience isn’t what most leadership development experts assume—and this misconception is costing organizations their best talent.
The Resilience Gap: A New Understanding
Our research journey began in 2023 when we first explored resilience in the workplace. We discovered that investing in employee resilience could significantly impact organizational outcomes, including performance, retention, and culture. Building on this foundation, our 2024-2025 research delved deeper, examining correlations between resilience, performance, and burnout.
What we found was eye-opening: there exists what we call a “resilience gap” or “burnout zone”—a discrepancy between an employee’s performance index (PI) and resilience index (RI). While many might assume high performers naturally possess high resilience, our data tells a different story.
The average performance score among respondents was 31, while the average resilience score was significantly lower at 19. This gap represents a serious risk, particularly for high-performing employees with low resilience. These individuals are productive today, but their long-term sustainability is at risk.
The Hidden Cost of the Burnout Zone
Perhaps most alarming is that employees in the burnout zone (high performance, low resilience) are five times more likely to be looking for new jobs compared to those with high resilience (50% vs. 10%). This statistic reveals the hidden cost of overlooking resilience in talent management.
Burnout isn’t just affecting employee well-being—it’s estimated to cost U.S. employers between $125 billion and $190 billion in annual healthcare expenses alone. This makes developing resilience not just beneficial but essential for organizational health and sustainability.
The Team Effect: Resilience as a Collective Strength
Our most significant finding might be that resilience is fundamentally a team sport. When even one team member receives employer-funded development, the entire team reports a 60% higher overall resilience score compared to teams with no investment at all.
This ripple effect challenges the myth that employees only care about their own development. Instead, it demonstrates that one individual’s growth fuels broader resilience and performance across the team, which can ultimately impact the entire organization.
Even more compelling, employees who benefit from team-based investments (like team development and group coaching) demonstrate 60% higher resilience scores and higher performance scores than those who received individual programs alone.
The Compound Effect of Quality Investment
Just as financial advisors talk about compound interest, we discovered a “compound earnings effect” in resilience development. Organizations that invest in three key development areas—skill development, leadership training, and coaching—see nearly 30% higher resilience scores compared to those investing in just one area (which yields about 19.5% improvement).
However, it’s not just about spending more—it’s about spending wisely. Quality matters more than quantity when it comes to development programs. When employees reported positive perceptions of learning experiences (describing them as engaging, relevant, and enjoyable), their resilience scores more than doubled compared to those reporting negative perceptions.
Strategic Implementation: Where to Focus Your Investment
Based on our research, here are four actionable strategies for building resilience in your organization:
- Identify high performers with low resilience: These employees in the burnout zone should be your top priority, as they’re already at risk of leaving.
- Close the resilience gap with quality development: Invest in comprehensive development programs that address multiple areas rather than spreading resources too thinly.
- Make resilience a team sport: Team-based investments yield significantly higher returns than individual programs alone.
- Foster a leadership culture that prioritizes resilience: Leaders who model resilience encourage the same traits in their teams and promote well-being alongside performance metrics.
FAQs from HR Leaders
During our webinar, several insightful questions came up that further illuminate the practical implications of our research:
Q: Have you correlated an increase in resilience to financial performance?
A: Yes, our research report includes several pages showing the direct link between resilience and financial performance metrics.
Q: Has team-based group coaching been part of the research to determine its impact on team performance?
A: Absolutely. Our findings confirm that team-based interventions—including team development, group coaching, and leadership development programs surrounding the team—significantly amplify resilience levels organization-wide.
Q: Is it the offering of quality programs alone or what is learned in the programs that drives resilience?
A: It’s about matching the right development to the right moment in the employee lifecycle. For example, a first-time manager needs foundational skills like communication and delegation, while a newly promoted enterprise leader might benefit from a “first 100 days” coaching program. The quality of these targeted interventions matters more than spreading development resources across all levels.
Q: How do you create awareness about how important resilience is when some companies see burnout as a weakness?
A: Use research data to your advantage. Show that low resilience is not a weakness but a skill gap that can be addressed through development. Demonstrate that in our volatile business environment, building resilience is a strategic advantage, not an optional soft skill.
The Competitive Edge
The bottom line is clear: resilience is no longer optional for organizations that want to thrive. By proactively providing targeted development and coaching, companies can mitigate burnout and retain high-performing employees who might otherwise be looking for the exit.
Organizations that make resilience a key strategic initiative will see the impact on their bottom line through greater retention, engagement, organizational health, and optimism about the future. In today’s challenging business landscape, resilience might just be your most powerful competitive advantage.
Contact us today to learn how we can support your organization.