Mitigating Change Fatigue

The pandemic and the ensuing digital working revolution have combined to bring about significant change, altering daily routines and upending the lives of almost everyone. This much transition can be overwhelming, particularly in such short order, and many are getting fatigued.

A recent Gartner survey polled 274 human resources leaders to find that 54 percent report their employees are fatigued from change. This presents an obvious problem — workers are a companies’ most valuable asset.

As their leader, protecting their health and wellbeing to every extent within your power is not only the right thing to do, but it is also essential to promoting productivity and quality work, writes Irvin Bishop Jr., chief information officer and executive vice president at Black & Veatch, in a recent article for The Enterpriser’s Project.

Bishop writes that some telltale signs of change fatigue include increasing indifference about product changes, visibly tired employees and higher levels of anxiety. Team members may voice more doubts or complaints as a result.

Solving the problem can be hard, as rapid, recurring change seems to be unavoidable in the information age, but it can be done. It begins with an honest assessment of how much change your organization can truly handle.

From there, Bishop outlines four solutions your company can take to mitigate change fatigue, including reconnecting with your employees on a personal level, boosting enthusiasm by celebrating your team members’ accomplishments, opening lines of communication to resolve risks around change before they become issues, and welcoming new ideas.

“Stay curious and pay attention to the emotional state of your peers and team members. Develop solutions that ease your team’s fatigue and help them turn challenges into opportunities,” writes Bishop. “This can make all the difference in their happiness, engagement, creativity, and desire to stay with your company for the long haul.”