Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2021-03-01)

When people say they’ve hit a “pandemic wall,”

they’re sometimes talking about all the dishes

they’re doing, the “hard pants” they haven’t

worn in months, and the same, stupid walk they

take every day. But the conversation is mostly

about work.

It’s critical that companies help meet employ-

ees’ baseline psychological needs. Our stability,

experts say, depends on having control over our

days, as well as a sense of belonging, purpose,

and growth. In normal times we meet those needs

through interactions with co-workers, neighbors,

romantic partners, family members, friends, and

exercise buddies. Our current dependency on

roommates and Zoommates means our minds,

which are constantly monitoring for these external

inputs, can feel starved, says organizational psy-

chologist Lydia Woodyatt, an associate professor

at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, who

runs a popular corporate workshop on psycho-

logical needs and the workplace.

If emotional needs are chronically unmet,

Woodyatt says, workers can feel stress, often

expressed as worry, anxiety, anger, or frustration;

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◼ STRATEGIES Bloomberg Businessweek March 1, 2021

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● Companies can’t ignore unmet needs

exacerbated by the pandemic

become disengaged; have low energy and poor

focus; fail to take responsibility; or lack creativity

and interest in collaboration. Here’s how

managers can buoy their teams and help them

avoid these issues:

The need: Autonomy—feeling like work is

under control. People crave a balance between

predictability and challenge.

The problem: The early months of the pan-

demic stripped us of agency as we considered how

power less we were against a lethal virus. A year

on, we’re dealing with boring repetition.

The fix: Let employees make as many decisions

as possible. “Make the task and goal clear, but don’t

necessarily tell people how to do it,” says Denise

Rousseau, a professor of organizational behavior

and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University.

The part managers mess up: Don’t ignore

your best workers just because they’re self-starters.

Too much autonomy can strain connections.

The need: Belonging—feeling like a valued and

high-performing member of the team.

The problem: When you’re isolated, it’s

harder to know what’s normal and expected.

“A lot of our work has become quite invisible,”

Woodyatt says.

The fix: Have positive conversations about prog-

ress and offer help. “What we’re seeing is people

are so unbelievably grateful for any sense of per-

sonal support,” Woodyatt says.

The part managers mess up: Stop the

Zoom happy hours. Letting workers spend their

free time as they choose shows that you value

their lives outside of work.

The need: Purpose—an answer to the question

“Why the heck am I doing this?”

The problem: Many workers are grinding away,

feeling lucky to have a job. “For most people, earn-

ing a buck for their employer or themselves is not

satisfying” by itself, Rousseau says.

The fix: Show employees how their work is

prized by others through, say, customer testimo-

nials. Write a mission statement and orient proj-

ects toward making it a reality.

The part managers mess up: Some

roles don’t have much higher purpose. Don’t be

disingenuous about it. Adopt the here-for-my-

buddy strategy that members of the armed ser-

vices use in fighting for the person next to them.

“When we expand from a ‘me’ to a ‘we,’ it’s eas-

ier to tolerate short-term losses and discomfort,”

Rousseau says.

▼ Frequency of feeling

nervous, anxious, or on

edge in the last seven

days* among employed

U.S. adults

Almost every day

16%

More than half the days

11%

Several days

27%

Not at all

27%

No response

19%

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