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CHANGE! CHANGE! CHANGE! No More Change!
If you’ve been bombarded by change lately, you’re not alone. It seems that most of the employees, The Employee Assistance Center serves, are going through major changes at work. Acquisitions, buy-outs, re-engineering, new management, new technology, new offices. Nothing seems to be the same as it was last year. And, if you add this to all the normal and unexpected changes going on at home, well it’s a challenge to wake up sane.
Just so you’ll know you’re normal, some of the feelings you may have when faced with a lot of change are
- Concern for job security
- Fear of losing control
- Uncertainty and inability to make decisions
- Confusion, lack of clarity and direction
- A sense of being overwhelmed
- Resistance and anger
- Feeling left out
- Paranoia and isolation
- Fatigue and depression
- Excitement and anxiety
The good news is that with a plan, most of you can manage the change quite well. The bad news is that change has become the norm for the workplace, and getting used to coping with it is essential. Besides good self-care, the following behaviors help you adjust:
- Reach out to others. Work as a group.
- Talk to others.
- Get into "one step at a time" thinking.
- Get as much training as possible.
- Walk the talk. Do what you tell others to do.
- Build trust and keep your promises.
- Share the pain and the sacrifices.
- Reward and recognize efforts.
- Listen and don’t shoot the messenger.
- Don’t punish yourself or others for mistakes.
- Encourage risk-taking and learning from mistakes.
- Remember, everyone’s role is changing.
- Share information and answer questions.
- Express concerns.
- Have patience.
- Remember, adjusting takes time. It’s a process, not an event.
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