.jpg)
Change in the workplace needs to be approached with caution and care. If you simply jump in and make a change, whether big or small, you’re going to cause stress and anxiety for your employees. Is that a positive picture?
No!
Managers have a huge responsibility when it comes to implementing workplace change, whether that change is forced upon them or whether it’s planned. At the moment, workplaces up and down the country have been forced to implement huge changes in the way they work on a daily basis. This is a change which has arrived out of the blue, and as a result, employees understand the need for such changes. However, does that mean that these changes don’t cause stress and anxiety? Of course not.
It’s vital that you understand one thing when implementing any change in the workplace environment - large, medium, or small, change directly affects morale and morale has a direct link with productivity, and ultimately, profits.
Of course, businesses need to be productive because a productive business is a profitable business. When employees are stressed out, worried, and they’re sitting at their office desks feeling unsure about what they need to do, they’re not going to be anywhere near as productive as they normally would be.
So, why does this happen?
Change makes people nervous. Any change in life, be it at work, in your personal life, or anything else, means that you’re in territory you’re not sure of. As a result, you’re out of your comfort zone. When you're sitting at your office chair every day, you know what’s going to happen and you understand your role. That might sound predictable, but at the heart of it, we like predictable. When you throw change into the mix, you’re left floundering. The feeling of uncertainty can lead towards anxiety and that is never a positive development.
It’s not possible to focus and concentrate as well as you normally would when you’re feeling anxious or you’re not sure what’s coming next. That is the reason why change can lead to lower morale, and therefore lower productivity too.
When making changes, you need to talk to your employees, gain their perspective and opinions and make sure that you discuss things rather than simply make decisions on their behalf. This will help them to feel more involved and valued, and as a result, morale will remain high. When the change is in place, you need to review it regularly and ask your employees how thing are going. Be sure to take their opinions into account and keep your office door open at all times. Sitting at your executive office desk with the door closed doesn’t make your employees feel like they can approach you when they’re feeling worried or they want to discuss something; an open-door policy is a way forward.
Of course, there are many other ways you can increase productivity and morale. Check out this infographic for a few ideas.
Source - https://visual.ly/community/Infographics/business/12-ideas-increase-productivity
Reviewing morale and productivity levels in your contemporary office can be as simple as just keeping an eye on things and listening to what your employees are saying. Yes, productivity can be measured with graphs and other statistics, but morale is a little harder to measure.
With the current Covid-19 situation we’re facing, it’s quite likely that your employees are feeling the strain, both personally and professionally. It’s important to be approachable and available for employees to discuss anything with you, be it face to face (socially distanced, of course) or virtually. Problems always seem worse then you don’t talk about them, so encouraging dialogue is one of the best ways to handle change in the workplace and therefore banish anxiety.
It really comes down to understanding how your employees feel. Put yourself in their place and recognise the challenges that change can bring. By doing that, you’ll ensure that change doesn’t ruin the productivity of your office.