What’s Going On With Your Workforce?
It’s being given a variety of names: disengagement, burnout, Covid-related-stress and an anxiety-created, overwhelmed staff. Add to these descriptors, “the loss of work-life balance”, and, and, and maybe just higher turnover rates creating more work spread over fewer staff. Sound familiar?
The result of these symptoms might look like higher turnover, and an angrier group of workers. A higher level of incivility and cynicism from one worker toward another, and quite possibly a scaling down of productivity as a defiance-toward “something” (They might not know exactly what.)
So, how might you/we deal with this condition? I do have an idea. So let’s get to it. Just a warning there are a number of things that will call for you to take a deep breath and accept the possibility that my suggestions, though dipped in ideality, just might work.
“Riddle me this” (Batman fans): Two of the strongest “motivators” of every human, according to Abraham Maslow, (Look him up.) is to belong, and be part of something, to be accepted and to feel valued and seen a “contributor” by others. That’s “esteem” related. What might come out of creating a departmental culture that modeled people who worked together and treated each other with respect, trust and care? What behavior could you model that encouraged your staff to create a team (forget the capital T) they felt good about, something to be a part of because “it felt good”? What if you encouraged people to “help each other” to be their best every day? Would that possibly be “something in their control” to create?
There are so many things “not in our/their control” OUTSIDE of work. If they and you can help create a “positive culture” at work, could it change the way they view their job?
There’s only one way to find out, isn’t there?