When there’s uncertainty, distress tends to follow. Our brains are hardwired for certainty. Evolutionarily speaking, predictability was what kept us alive, and our amygdala can perceive uncertainty as a threat, which kicks off the stress response. A few years ago, it was the pandemic. More recently, it’s been the shifting political climate resulting in unpredictability, financial uncertainty, job loss, tariffs, international events to name but a few.
What to do?
When you see the potential impact of distress – frequently yawns throughout the meeting (lethargy), people missing deadlines they wouldn’t have in the past (trouble focusing, problems remembering), not showing up to social events (lack of motivation, withdrawal), or people snapping (irritability) – what do you do?
- Make sure you are in a good headspace to have the conversation. Prior to offering support, check in with yourself, assess if you have the psycho-emotional bandwidth to offer support to your employee.
- Have a compassionate conversation. You first want to make sure the employee has the bandwidth for the conversation, so I suggest setting up some time on their calendar for a one-on-one; if you’re in the office together, going for coffee can be a nice alternative. Ask them – is everything okay – this is not like you.
- Create space for the employee to respond. Once you finish your conversation opener, now it’s time to pause and listen. When listening, you are doing so for several reasons: to see if the employee is willing to engage with you, to potentially understand the root cause of the observed behavior, and as a form of support.
- Offer support. Empathic support is great; you can and should say: “I’m sorry to hear that.” However, while you may not be able to solve the uncertainty problem, as a manager you are uniquely positioned to offer real, tangible support that could have a meaningful impact on reducing the employee’s current stress load. An often-overlooked form of active support that also allows the employee to maintain their agency is to first ask, “How can I best support you during this period?” Oftentimes employees know what might make a difference to help them through a challenging time.
What are the solutions?
You don’t have to wait until you see signs of employee distress to offer support. Times of uncertainty are great opportunities for managers to practice proactive management skills that can limit distress. By acknowledging that uncertainty can lead to distress, you can try to manage in a way that reduces uncertainty:
1. Over-communicate. Keep communication with your employees frequent and fact-based. Even if there is nothing new to report, you can share that “I don’t have an update on XYZ.” Why? Because in an absence of information, employees may create their own narratives about what’s going on, and typically their narrative is far more sensational or catastrophizing than the reality.
2. Address common shared experiences. During times of uncertainty, you want to listen for patterns of shared experiences that paint the truth of the current workplace dynamic and its impact on employees. When you hear that, call an all-hands for your team and acknowledge it. And if you’re willing to be vulnerable, share how the current climate is impacting you.
3. Strengthen psychological safety. When psychological safety is high on teams, honesty, help-seeking, and positive group dynamics tend to be higher, too, all of which can buffer employees from distress as they navigate uncertainty.
4. Build self-awareness and self-management. A great way to support your employees during times of uncertainty is to take care of yourself. Specifically by being aware when you may be experiencing distress and then self-managing by seeking support or taking a break, perhaps turning to your own boss. Doing so can model vulnerability and reduce the likelihood that your distress is directed toward employees.
