Businesses’ new silent malaise
2020 took so much away from your people... as an employer, what can you do about it?
Many of us woke up on 1 January 2020 slightly dusty from the night before but enthused about what 2020 could bring us, how this year was going to be the year that really catapulted our lives to a higher level. We had grand plans, small plans, health plans, family plans, career plans & relationship plans. Some of us didn’t have a clear plan at all other than “2020 is going to be the year my life really takes off”.
Let's be honest 2020 thus far has sucked for the most part and has been the type of year which has left many of us asking for its cancellation/refund policy, possibly fast track to 1 January 2021 now.
Whilst governments pitch in to keep as many people in their jobs as possible, employers do their best to keep revenue coming in and start programs to keep clients/consumers and employees engaged in their vision; sadly many employees have been stuck at home or in some form of isolation for months. Everyone’s frustrated, they have lost focus, lost time. All this has shifted their attention and distracted from real thought out plans that had energy and emotion behind them. And in many cases, many have started to feel a level of anxiety attached to their perceived failure as they haven’t been able to achieve what they hoped to at the beginning of the year.
It’s becoming very obvious that even the businesses that are showing a healthy revenue line throughout this crisis are impacted by this issue - and many more don’t know what to do about it. Their employees may still perform, contribute, and even feel grateful to have a job in these current circumstances but it doesn’t mean they’re okay. Most of them haven’t seen their colleagues for months, sometimes they live alone and haven’t seen anyone in months. It’s taking a large toll.
It is time for those businesses to give back and support their workforce, emotionally. People need to rediscover their 2020 personal goals and pinpoint what they want to achieve by 31 December in order to feel some degree of satisfaction with this year and again wake up on 1 January 2021 enthused about their lives, their work and continue to give it their all.
For many years now, employers have been asked to change and establish new standards around working conditions, company benefits and CSR to attract new talent and retain their best people. They are now asking for support in relation to their focus towards achieving goals that are not directly tied to business outcomes.
How can you ensure that your people think 2020 was for them - not against them - come 31 December 2020? And come back to work ready to tackle another year on 2 January 2021?
