What mistakes are made in the face of conflict, fear and uncertainty?
The company is more and more a mirror of our society.
It is undeniable that anxiety, anger and uncertainty are reappearing within our professional organizations. They are more and more the place of debates, controversies, sometimes confrontations. We have to accept this and manage the consequences, and HR is on the front line. In particular, in the face of growing uncertainty, teams want to be heard.
Here are the main mistakes HR and managers make in this situation.
1. Deny a problem and avoid difficult conversations
If fear is avoided, denied, if leaders, already on the verge of burnout, struggle to keep their teams performing in the midst of all this turmoil, they lose the trust of their teams and unknowingly encourage unhealthy or toxic behavior. If teams instead feel they can openly share how they feel without fear of being judged, they are safe.
2. Overacting the fear
At the other end of the spectrum, teams that work with too much fear often experience crippling declines in performance. Adopting the "burning house" strategy can breed inaction.
As a result, leaders who normalize emotions in the workplace by encouraging employees to talk about their fears are far more likely to bring them out of paralysis and mobilize them around a common goal.
3. Skimp on manager training
Managing in uncertainty, embracing conflict, transforming fear into commitment and risk into opportunity are skills that can be learned. Your managers and HR teams must be able to communicate in uncertainty, accompany these strategic conversations and organize these transformations.
Some answers to explore
The courage of nuance
"We suffocate among people who think they are absolutely right," said Albert Camus. Listen to Jean Birnbaum, speaking at the last Boma event organized by Brightness, tell 3 stories and remind us that nuance is not a compromise but first of all a courage.
Navigating in times of uncertainty
Discover this series of Brightness podcasts on uncertainty management, cognitive biases, sensemaking, the OODA loop....
