Feeling unsettled and insecure – you are not alone

Have you noticed your team members’ motivation waning or coming and going in recent weeks? Or perhaps your own? You are not alone. With world events being what they are, some basic human needs can feel threatened. Why is this and what can we do to gain some motivational balance?

I’ve recently been interviewing some senior leaders in a global organisation to gain insight on the effectiveness of communication and engagement at their manufacturing sites. It has been interesting to hear them talk of operators on the shop floor showing an even greater need for reassurance about the long term health of their organisation and the ongoing viability of their sites.

Here in the UK, the increases in fuel costs both for vehicles and for home energy usage has impacted many families. As the Office of National Statistics states ‘As the cost of living rises for households across Great Britain, growing energy prices disproportionately impact those on lower incomes. ’
As the global economy restarts after pandemic-related lockdowns, limited stocks of natural gas and supply constraints have driven prices higher. In the financial year ending in 2020, the poorest 10% of households spent more than half (54%) of their average weekly expenditure (£298.90) on essentials such as housing (including electricity and gas), food and transport.

I think it is important to bear this in mind when considering why some team members may have other things on their mind than how to improve their efficiency or how to generate new ideas for their area of the business for example.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a model of long-standing now. It was first introduced in a 1943 paper “A Theory of Human Motivation” in the journal Psychological Review. It may have lost popularity in recent years given lack of empirical evidence for Maslow’s theory but intuitively there does seem to be some sense that we may not as human beings be interested in self-fulfillment if we are struggling to get physiological or safety and security needs met.

What might this mean for us as people managers?

When we are busy with our own deadlines and challenges, delivering what our own boss needs and trying to maintain some sense of work life balance it can be easy to neglect some of the important but not urgent aspects of people management for team members like communication.

One of the most important rules of thumb to ensure your team members are reassured is to communicate even when there is nothing to say. If local news near your organisation is speculating on the impact of world events on your company’s ability to fulfil it’s production requirements because of supply chain difficulties or that your product is a luxury that consumers can’t afford right now, it is important to say something to your team members. Saying nothing leaves space for people to make assumptions, and given our tendency towards negativity bias (our tendency to register negative stimuli more readily and then dwell on these) that’s not helpful. Tell people what you know, even if that isn’t very much, and let them know when you’ll give them another update, even if that news will be the same.

It’s also important to create a psychologically safe environment so team members feel comfortable to speak to you about their concerns without fear of being judged or dismissed. For tips on how to do this, see my previous blog Feeling safe enough in a team to fully show up.

Finally, it is another chance to ‘go slow, to go fast’ (see previous blog on laying good foundations with relationships) – rather than being nice to have, taking time to listen to concerns of team members, whether work related or not, are key to building trust and a sense that they matter and are cared about as a person which supports engagement, – which drives performance. And .. as you show up like this for your team members, make sure you have someone there for you too.