Here is another acronym for adding to your vocabulary: VUCA. It represents fluctuations, uncertainties, complexities and ambiguity, and it sounds like drama.
A pair of economists coined the term VUCA in the late 1980s, and the U.S. Army War Academy dabbled in it in the early 1990s to describe how the United States performed in a post-Cold War environment. New research shows that the country is in a similar era of volatility and is affecting the labor force. About 42% of employees say the world’s fear and uncertainty is causing stress, with 68% reporting a decline in productivity. Report From People Analytics Software Company MEQ.
“It’s like stacking more on a worry list…it’s just the idea that we’re not sure what will happen. Will we start a war? Are we not? Do we want to impose tariffs or do we not impose tariffs?” said Brad Smith, chief science officer of MEQ. “All of these things really bring a lot of uncertainty to people, and that brings pressure.”
VUCA World. Smith said people’s teams need to realize how such moments of uncertainty and volatility affect how employees work.
“It’s not only people feel crazy in the office, but the guy you avoid because he never says anything good,” Smith said. “Uncertainty and stress are linked to productivity disorders, and we found that among people with uncertainty stress, productivity disorders are increased by 70%.
Smith added that the workplace has also had complex effects since the pandemic, and every aspect of happiness has been hit. Whether it is in mental health, engagement, productivity, work-life balance, growth and career opportunities decline, many employees feel that their employers are not “stick to bargaining.”
“They assured me that I had the chance to succeed. They assured me that I had the opportunity to grow and learn more about my work,” Smith said. “When these things are not right, the supervisors don’t deliver on their promises, or the company doesn’t deliver on their promises, and those are really a strong disconnect.”
What can human resources do? One of the ways HR professionals can help employees this time is to train managers to become intentional and understanding leaders, Smith said. The MEQ report found that when employees feel their managers support their own well-being, it reduces stress associated with uncertainty by 40%.
“One of the most protective things you can have is someone saying, ‘My manager cares about me and takes care of the mental health of our team.’ “It’s very powerful in terms of reducing anxiety, depression… uncertainty, the speed of stress.” ”
Smith also encourages employees to learn how to control their responses to work challenges so that they can better anticipate and respond to familiar emotions. For example, he points out that his reaction to a certain workplace situation may be introverted, while others may react in anger.
“The skills of emotional control are very powerful in the way we feel and reduce the amount of disconnect we may express,” he said. “We never want to tell people that ‘just be more resilient.’”
The report is Originally published go through Human Resources Department Brewing.
