Government leaders who want to survive this era of uncertainty must prioritize lowering stress and promoting innovation. Image: Prachova Nataliia/Shutterstock.com
It is obvious that federal employees across agencies are facing a climate rife with anxiety and uncertainty. In addition to the shifting policy priorities, budget fluctuations, technological modernization initiatives, and updated workplace policies that have been underway for a few years, the recent workforce reductions and resignations have amplified anxiety. As government leaders scramble to navigate rapid changes in federal mandates and operational requirements, the current environment is proving very different from any previous period of change.
Of particular importance in this moment is the impact of these changes on federal employee wellbeing and productivity. A recent Human Development Report noted that the number of people expressing stress, sadness, anxiety, anger, and worry is at a ten-year high. These emotions can directly affect both individual wellbeing and employee and effectiveness. In the private sector, Gallup estimates that stressed and disengaged employees cost $8.9 trillion in lost productivity, or 9% of global GDP, each year.
This is hardly surprising. External environmental threats can narrow focus and inhibit innovation and collaboration. Being overwhelmed by repeated, unresolved challenges lead to paralysis. When employees are already managing personal stressors, workplace changes can become overwhelming. We’ve seen this anxiety and corresponding productivity decline across agencies during major transitions like departmental reorganizations or technology modernization initiatives. But we have also observed how leaders can leverage specific strategies to reduce anxiety and boost productivity and innovation. Lessons from change management research and successful federal transformations can provide strategies for leaders seeking to supporting employees through uncertain times.
Share a Common Framework and Language to Help People Understand the Context
Maintaining a shared language during emotionally complex situations can help individuals align around the issue at hand. Humans have evolved to identify threats to our survival, but we are also driven by curiosity and programmed to seek out novel ideas or experiences. This duality has resulted in a two-channel system that governs how we respond to uncertainty. The Survive Channel is activated by threats, triggering fear, anxiety, and stress. These sensations serve to focus our attention on eliminating or avoiding threats. By contrast, the Thrive Channel is activated by new opportunities and causes us to experience excitement, passion, and enthusiasm. These triggers help to open our minds to broadens perspectives and new ways of collaborating. When we are united by a common language and understanding, new stimuli or circumstances are less likely to set off the Survive Channel, empowering us to lean into our creative and collaborative strengths.
Take Stock of the Threats and Opportunities and Discuss Them Transparently
With a common language in place, leaders can work with teams to identify the key threats and opportunities that are creating anxiety or excitement. Whether these are policy shifts, workforce changes, or other disruptions to the status quo, an open discussion about what may or may not change will help ensure helps ensure focus remains on real, rather than perceived, threats. Leaders are often hesitant to engage in discussions around uncertainty, fearing they might inadvertently creative unnecessary anxiety. Mental Health America research indicates that less than 50% of employers encourage transparent communication. This results in employees feeling unsupported and psychologically unsafe. In a highly connected environment with almost infinite sources of information, attempts to protect employees from uncertain news can often backfire, as rumor mills overtake reality.
In today’s federal ecosystem, where changes are coming quickly and may not always be clearly communicated, it is more important than ever for leaders to engage their teams in open discussion. Failing to do so will not prevent employees from thinking about coming changes, it will only make it easier for their Survive Channels to take over their imaginations.
Recognize that Diverse Experiences Lead to Diverse Responses
Brain science research has allowed us to understand that not every person will have the same response to every situation. An expert skier at the top of a challenging double black diamond might have their Thrive Channel highly activated by the thrill they are about to experience, but a novice skier who ended up at the top of the hill by mistake will be in Survive Mode, feeling threatened by the possibility of serious injury. Our experiences, personalities, and goals all have a role to play in how we perceived a certain event. For example, some employees might be excited by the prospect of new and unfamiliar technology to make their work easier or better, while others might be fearful of the learning curve to adopt new tools. If faced with return-to-office mandates, some will see an opportunity to interact and build community peers, while others will struggle with the loss of flexibility.
Leaders must be able to recognize these diverse reactions and acknowledge that employees may well have different responses. Messaging about changes must be crafted to address diverse viewpoints and help mitigate the anxiety through clear, consistent, empathetic communication. Aim to amplify the excitement by focusing on potential benefits but be careful to not overstate or overgeneralize.
Help Employees Reframe Threats as Opportunities
Uncertainty isn’t inherently negative — times of change and disruption are filled with opportunities to improve and do things differently. Leaders can help their teams acknowledge relevant threats, but then focus on finding the opportunities within them. If new policies disrupt operations, the resulting shakeup could create opportunities to improve service delivery. Even with emotionally charged changes like return-to-office mandates, leaders can empathize with challenges while discussing opportunities for enhanced collaboration and team cohesion. However, leaders must avoid sounding disconnected — their goal should not be to deny threats, but to contextualize them. It is easy for leaders to sound disconnected from reality if their communications come across as disingenuous or overly optimistic.
Reduce System Noise
Anxiety and fear can have a compounding effect. The more Survive triggers in the environment, the more likely it is that a new event or change will be seen as a significant threat. Because our human hardwiring cannot always easily distinguish the small threats, like an “urgent” ask for some information, from the big threats, like a significant recordkeeping flaw, we are often overwhelmed by quantity over severity. Modern organizational life has a lot of noise — meetings, emails, metrics, and policies can all activate a Survive response. Leaders can help their team by reducing this noise. Step in to distinguish the important from the urgent by removing unnecessary metrics and memos, clarifying the principles behind policies, and setting clear expectations.
With federal employee anxiety at an all-time high, reducing fear and stress is increasingly important to continued organizational performance. While leaders cannot control external events, they can help mitigate workplace anxiety and amplify opportunities. Over the last few years, we have seen companies across industries utilize these strategies to improve employee engagement. From a health tech company that improved employee engagement scores by 24% and revenue by 26% in three years, to a pharmaceutical company seeing 50% participation rates on improvement initiatives leading to millions of dollars of savings and fewer quality defects, to an industrial giant reducing anxiety in its newly acquired companies, leading to faster, less disruptive integration.
Uncertainty is almost constant, but anxiety and lack of productivity don’t have to be. For the sake of our government services and general wellbeing, finding ways to Thrive in the present moment will be critical. Government leaders who want to survive this era of uncertainty must prioritize lowering stress and promoting innovation to make sure dedicated and purpose-driven federal employees are still able to do their jobs and provide their services.
Gaurav Gupta is a DC-based Managing Director and the Head of R&D at change management firm Kotter. He is also the author of “Change: How Organizations Achieve Hard-to-Imagine Results in Uncertain and Volatile Times.”
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