ILMA Compoundings - May 2021 - 28
WORRIED WORKERS
How to reinvigorate By Phillip M. Perry
employees post-pandemic
A
Curing Anxiety
nxiety caused by the COVID-19 outbreak can negatively affect employee performance. Managers need to
reinvigorate worried staff members by taking a personal
interest in their concerns, reengineering the working environment to stimulate their motivational hot buttons and
granting them sufficient creative autonomy. A vigorous and
engaged staff can, in turn, transform a business into a robust
profit-making machine.
Anita has returned to the office after weeks of working
from home. To her manager's surprise, she no longer exhibits her customary drive. She seems disengaged with her work
and uninterested in customers.
Robert continues to work from home since his duties do
not require an on-site presence. His supervisor can't help but
notice a decline in motivation. The one-time dynamo no
longer bubbles with creative ideas that help drive profitability.
Your business' success depends on your ability to light fires
under employees like Anita and Robert, who seem to have
exhausted their inner resources. How do you do this? We'll
answer that question shortly. First, though, let's examine why
so many workers feel a slump in enthusiasm.
28
MAY 2021
| COMPOUNDINGS | ILMA.ORG
" Employees everywhere are feeling a high level of anxiety
because of the COVID-19 outbreak, " said Jack Altschuler,
president of Fully Alive Leadership in Northbrook, Illinois.
" Anxiety makes people see everything in the light of their fear. "
And fearful people, he said, perform poorly. The energy
that would normally go to their work goes instead toward
worrying about the health and financial survival of their
families and themselves.
Much of this worry takes the form of unanswered
questions. " Employees are concerned about many unknowns
caused by the virus, " said Karlyn Borysenko, Ph.D.,
principal at Zen Workplace, a consulting firm outside of
Boston. " They are asking questions such as, 'Is my job safe?
Will the business survive? How will the pandemic affect the
economy? Can I believe what the bosses are saying?' These
questions and others reflect a good deal of uncertainty, and
uncertainty is always a challenge to motivation. "
The problem is made worse by the insecurity of supervisors themselves. " Because managers in many cases do not
know what's going on, they do not have a way to comfort
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ILMA Compoundings - May 2021
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