How To Eliminate Fear In The Workplace (even Virtually)

By Hannah Whitesides, Retreat Leader & Fear Management Specialist for our Company Virtual Retreats

The workplace is changing drastically. COVID-19 created a completely new environment, which inevitably generated new workplace fears. Before the pandemic, one of the most common workplace fears was uncertainty. Uncertainty covers employees' fear of layoffs, pay cuts, and ultimately not achieving their long term career goals. Because of the pandemic, this fear has infiltrated people's lives inside and outside of the workplace. It has become all encompassing. 

Why should employers care? 

Employers should care about workplace fear because, from my own experience, when employers care about their employees the employees are much more likely to do well. There's a big difference between doing well because you have to and doing well because you want to. In addition, we are all going through this pandemic meaning we are all suffering from the uncertainty about the future of our lives and careers. According to Houston Chronicle, “When people are presented with fear-inducing situations, they can "impact the workplace through absences, lowered performance and possible safety concerns." This inevitably leads to revenue loss for your company. 

What can you do about it? 

Creating a workplace environment based on confidence and assurance is not only imperative for pandemic shift purposes but also for the new generation of employees. Younger millennials and Generation Z are the future of your company. “This generation is responding to the effects of a social era that supports the need for a shared purpose, encouraging individuality along with collaborative work (Mind Tickle, a leading sales readiness company, 2016).” 

Here are three ways to reduce workplace fear: 

1) Establish a workplace-family relationship

People want to feel like they are valued and cared for rather than just being a resource to someone. It’s important to make your employees feel comfortable coming to you with general conversation or new ideas. Check in with them every once in a while whether that be in person or just a quick email or text. 

2) Build trust, be authentic 

Actions speak louder than words. Always make sure that what you say is what you do in terms of commitments and behaviors. For example, my boss makes it very clear that Project Passport is a tight-knit group of like-minded people. That is 100% true and by demonstrating that to new hires it adds a level of trust and authenticity within our company. Another way to build trust is to make sure that when you say you’ll call, you do. Make sure every employee feels like they are seen. 

3) Create a map of tasks 

This one targets the fear of uncertainty and the new era of employees. Develop a timeline of what needs to be done. Having a map laid out for your team allows employees to feel a sense of security because it measures workloads and timelines. Employees will feel comfortable knowing what's coming rather than having to guess and the new generation of employees tend to be task-oriented rather than time-oriented. 

Developing a workplace culture that eliminates fear is crucial in getting your company through these tough times and establishing a foundation for the future of its success. 

Source: Business.com

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Project Passport is a proactive mental wellness company that aims to bring mental wellness retreats, workshops and other services to company teams. We also help women create joy in their lives every step of the way. To learn more about our company retreats and services, click here. To learn more about our tribe community for women, click here. Our travel retreats will resume in the future as the world reopens.