The good old days, characterized by familiarity, dependability, and stability, have been replaced by continuous disruption. Rapid technological change, political polarization, global instability, fluctuating economic indicators, and even pandemic PTSD have made uncertainty what is being referred to as the “new normal”. The resulting unpredictability and unknown is enough to take a toll on us, our lives, and our businesses.
Uncertainty is most certainly not a business leader’s friend when it comes to growing your business, motivating your team, helping your clients, and scoring results. Leading through disruption and volatility requires a different set of leadership skills.
We’ve pulled together some ideas that will help you lead through change and create a resilient workforce and organizational culture that thrive (not merely survive) through change and help your organization succeed.
Understand the Impact of Burnout
Constant disruptions, reluctance, inability to unplug, remote work, and extreme social tensions have increased team members’ pressure in their lives, leaving them feeling overwhelmed, out of control, and even scared. Studies have assessed employee burnout anywhere from 25-65% of the workforce, despite job satisfaction. The impact of burnout is devastating to any organization—diminished engagement, increased absenteeism, and a 46% decrease in productivity.
Detect and Address Burnout
If you’re wondering if your workforce is experiencing burnout, here are some clues:
- working overtime, holidays, or weekends
- lack of engagement in meetings
- reduced quality of work
- lack of new ideas or strategies for improvement
- decrease in desire for training or career advancement
- inability to meet deadlines
- rise in absenteeism
- high turnover
- difficulty in recruiting and hiring
What can you be doing to help our team through burnout and feeling overwhelmed? The number one answer: improve your work environment. This begins by understanding how you may actually contribute to increasing pressure and stress with:
- lack of communication
- absent strategic direction
- unmanageable workload
- unreachable goals
- lack of performance reviews and feedback
- communication after hours
Consumer financial services firm Synchrony took their campaign against employee burnout to a whole new level. After surveying 100 campus-hire interns at its headquarters and learning that if they were to join the company, it was important to have more dedicated wellness resources. So the company hired a full-time psychologist, in addition to the many wellness coaches it’s brought on over the past several years.
Create a New Cultural Playbook
Before addressing the above issues, Job number one is getting your team in shape to succeed through uncertainty by infusing agility and mental toughness into your culture. That starts with molding a mindset that:
- embraces uncertainty as an opportunity
- encourages experimentation, and views ‘failures’ as stepping stones to success
- replaces siloed competition with complete collaboration
- values understanding and support for efforts as much as results
This new mindset is antifragility, a convex response to a stressor or source of harm that leads to a positive sensitivity. Author Nassim Tale discusses it in his book Antifragile: Things that Gain from Disorder: “Some things benefit from shocks; they thrive and grow when exposed to volatility, randomness, disorder, and stressors and love adventure, risk, and uncertainty.”
So, how can you reshape your workforce’s thinking? Regular training that develops adaptable skills helps foster a culture that doesn’t react negatively to change but anticipates and embraces it. There also are online tools and books that will support this effort.
Another way to help your workforce master uncertainty is by fostering team support, connections, and understanding. Encourage cross-functional projects that allow team members to become familiar with different aspects of the business to increase their versatility and grasp the big picture of how each department is interconnected and works together to achieve the vision and results.
Communicate. Communicate. Communicate.
Perhaps the easiest (and possibly most effective) tactic for combatting both burnout and fear of uncertainty is communication. Leaders should not be afraid of over-communicating. Messages need to be received multiple times in multiple ways. For instance, supplement quarterly town halls with weekly updates from rotating members of the executive suite and department heads.
Lower communication barriers by providing various ways for employees to ask questions—anonymously or otherwise. Share questions and answers to inappropriate communications—intranet, newsletter, team meetings, etc. The tone and content of each answer should demonstrate leadership is approachable and responsive, and that input and questions from all team members are welcome and valued.
Uncertainty makes people feel out of control and uncomfortable. The inability to influence outcomes fans burnout. Giving your team a voice about the challenges they see coming and a say in how to navigate those challenges. Consider brainstorming sessions or team huddles for employees to share their opinions and insights in a “safe” environment. For individuals who are reluctant to participate in group settings, digital tools like surveys work.
It’s not enough to just hear your team’s concerns, suggestions, and feedback. Active listening requires that feedback about their input be provided. This includes how viable suggestions will be acted on or why some ideas can’t be implemented.
This breadth and depth of communications are what I refer to as a “waterfall.” Cascading from the C-suite to department heads, managers, and frontline supervisors, all leaders share responsibility for transparently and communicating the organization’s vision (what is possible), challenges, opportunities, and wins.
In acknowledgment of the great pressure workers everywhere are experiencing, there’s an increasingly global movement to restrict work communications to working hours. Britain passed a law that allows companies to be fined for emails during non-working hours, and Australia’s new “right to disconnect” law imbues employees with the right to respond only during working hours without repercussions. Message received.
Wrap-up
Today’s uncertain environment is challenging, and people struggle in the workplace and at home. As a leader, the more you can do to help them navigate uncertainty, the more you will give them hope, keep them motivated, and spark the innovation and creativity needed to achieve results. Meridith Powell’s formulas, strategies, and tactics are indispensable to that end.