Managing Employee Uncertainty

The one certainty about living and working through this pandemic is the uncertainty. COVID-19 has upended nearly every aspect of life, from the personal to the professional, and according to a recent Gallup study what employees need from their leaders during these challenging times is trust, compassion, stability and hope.

At the start of 2021, jobs, business and the economy were showing signs of recovery but the recent surge in numbers caused by the Delta variant has reignited health concerns, triggered lockdowns and a national emergency.

Australian business needs to once again grapple with the unknown as they adapt and reposition their operations and prepare for the next ‘normal’.

The crisis has also brought employees full circle as they face renewed concerns over job security, financial and safety fears, as well as increased social isolation and mental health issues.

These issues ignite anxiety, which can result in less productive and more distracted workers, and research shows uncertainty is a major cause of stress at work. In fact, scientists say that employees living with job uncertainty have worse overall health and more depression than employees who actually lose their jobs.

According to a 2020 survey of more than 500 working Australian professionals, 55 per cent of participants reported that changes to ways of working was their main cause of stress.

For many, the response to changing work environments has been to compensate with hyper-engagement, which impacts on mental health and a predisposition to burnout.

The main drivers of stress were: working with technology; blurred boundaries; time management issues; ‘always-on’ culture; and worry about the future. For just over 20 per cent of respondents, worry and anxiety was reported as a prevailing emotion.

The report also revealed loneliness as common feeling amongst female participants, with just over a quarter reporting feelings of worry and anxiety, a figure twice the level of males. Feeling worry or anxiety hampers an employee’s creativity, this impacts innovation, which is key to unlocking future opportunities.

The Gallup research gathered COVID-19 strategies and policies from some of the world’s largest organisations and found that while leaders don’t have to have all the answers, they do need to know how to meet employee’s four basic needs – trust, compassion, stability and hope – every time they plan, communicate and act. Suggesting that: “To be an effective leader during this time, you must remember that humans experience life about 30 per cent rationally and 70 per cent emotionally.”

Trust: Be predictable in an unpredictable time

Trust is a central part of all human relationships, including within business and relationships to colleagues. In this environment, employees are not only looking for honesty and clarity – they’re also watching intently for behavioural predictability. This requires leaders to constantly be thinking about what they’re doing to create a basic sense of security and stability throughout an organisation or within their team.

Create a high-trust culture. Be open and transparent about difficult topics; don’t sugar coat news or adopt an avoidance, head-in-the-sand approach. An absence of information will only fuel rumours and misinformation. Clearly lay out the scenarios your business is facing and the decision criteria involved.

Also, let your team know what to expect in terms of when and how frequently they’ll receive information from you as well as from your company’s top tier leadership.

Don’t ignore the uncertainty your team members might be facing, provide a safe space for them to voice their concerns such as periodic small meetings and one-to-ones. If some employees are finding it extremely hard to cope, look for more individualised support.

Compassion: Say it out loud, and back it up with policy

Gallup research shows, that if people don’t have close friendships on the job and a manager who really cares about them personally, there’s almost no chance that they’ll be engaged in their work.

As employees are juggling new responsibilities, fears and problems, they need to hear their managers and leaders say out loud that they understand, that the company is behind them, that you’ll get through this new situation together.

Compassion needs to be boldly practiced through policy decisions as well as verbally. Research and findings have recognised compassion to be an essential aspect of a productive work environment. Showing compassion to colleagues, superiors, or subordinates, are vital to sustaining job satisfaction and work-related motivation.

Stability: Provide psychological safety and avoid tunnel vision

There are two elements to stability, the practical and the psychological. Making sure employees have the materials and equipment they need to work under rapidly changing circumstances – such as technology, access and communication – provides practical stability.

But the core of stability is psychological security, particularly the need to know where a company is headed and that one’s job is secure. This is why business should clearly define and communicate decision-making principles – especially regarding employment and pay.

Employees need a sense of normalcy too. Regularly communicate the ‘evolving normal’ including progress and accomplishments during this difficult time so that it doesn’t feel like the world has completely stopped. Highlight constancy where you can find it to prevent tunnel vision – for example, the aim to serve your customers likely won’t change, although how you deliver it might.

Hope: It’s your most precious asset during turmoil

There is an aspirational quality to hope that inspires commitment, as well as a motivational aspect that prompts performance. Hope sits on the foundation of trust and stability and pulls people forward and invites them to participate in creating a future that’s better than the present.

So, view hope as precious capital and seek to inspire. Hopeful workers are more resilient, innovative and agile, better able to plan ahead and navigate obstacles – all very valuable assets.

Tell people what you want to achieve this week, this month, this quarter, and why those goals can be reached. That gives people reason to hope and motivation to dig deep.

Thanks to Gallup for their insights that helped write this article.

References and further reading:

Harvard Business Review: How to talk to your team when the future is uncertain

Poppulo: 9 Ways employee uncertainty is bad for business – and people

Reach Out: How to deal with uncertainty during coronavirus