Most of us find it challenging to do our best work when our work environment feels unstable. For example, if you find yourself in the midst of an organizational change, your psychological resources — such as resilience and optimism — may be stretched to the limit. If the way forward at work is particularly unclear, you’ll undoubtedly devote precious energy considering not only the future of the organization, but your personal future there as well. In that context, you might think twice about a risky stretch assignment, even if it could potentially benefit your career and the organization in the long-term. This is often the case if faith in the underlying organizational foundation is acutely in question.
If You Want Engaged Employees, Offer Them Stability
Most organizations struggle to find the right balance between stability and change, which in turn affects individual contributors. But in the race for innovation and digital transformation, the idea of stability has been somewhat lost in the mix, and there are strong indications that we should revisit its merits. If you want to develop an environment where contributors thrive, your workforce must be able to count on some basic things — such as role clarity, timely feedback, adequate resource allocation, and attention to how our work is structured. For example, the retail industry is learning that erratic work schedules likely benefit no one. When employees have a more predictable schedule, productivity increases. Although this finding may seem obvious, things that might contribute to stability generally receive little attention as compared to other topics, such as productivity or agility. It’s time for organizations to circle back and invest more resources in enhancing stability. Organizational practices such as clearly communicating your mission and goals, along with strategies to accomplish them, can help. Identifying the issues that are preventing an employee from feeling psychologically supported at work will go a long way toward helping your most valued employees to move forward confidently and do their best work yet.