Turning the climate of fear into a climate of opportunity

This is not new news: The past few years have brought an unparalleled level of uncertainty to this generation of employers and employees.

When things are this uncertain (the economy, employment), it is very easy to let uncertainty morph into a climate of fear. Persistent concerns about the future of a company or a job can impact individual and organizational productivity, good will, loyalty, empathy... and can certainly undermine relationships, innovation, problem solving, planning...

And there is also an issue with congruency. So often, employees hear their leadership saying "All is well" when clearly, all is Not well. They see leadership scrambling to stay afloat, or to come up with a new product or marketing idea, while hearing a message that everything is under control. Employees want to feel there is a direction and a plan, but they also know that things are uncertain and to pretend otherwise creates a lack of congruency which can lead to a lack of trust.

Leaders are understandably scared. Their jobs and their companies are uncertain too. Not knowing what will happen is unsettling. How do leaders take uncertainty and create a climate of opportunity rather than fear?

Why not foster a climate of true team membership and collaboration?

One opportunity is for leaders to rethink how they perceive their current resources. What if they ask the smart folks that make up their team or organization to help solve problems in the company that may or may not be their usual area of focus. While this might seem obvious (capitalize on folks who know the business, who have company loyalty, and who probably offer a broad range of expertise and perspectives), it is not necessarily common and can be incredibly productive. Creating an ongoing open pipeline for ideas from the wider company can broaden the actual resources beyond the usual bounds of a more silo-structured organization.

So, as an example, what if a leader were to address issues of congruency and empower team members to assist in creating solutions? What if a leader were to say to their team,"Yes, this is an uncertain time, so let's talk about what can we do to improve our processes, drive our costs down, streamline our work methods, work together more productively...", and then really, truly listen to the ideas that come up?

(Smart leaders will allow for more than one way for ideas to be submitted, including some anonymous methods like old school suggestion boxes).

One shortcoming of this idea is that there is often an autoimmune response to ideas that come from outside the usual channels. So be aware that "listening" does not mean meeting new ideas with an automatic, reflexive No-- it means truly being open to the answers. Gathering ideas from a variety of sources may result in surprising solutions, perhaps even innovations, and may create new possibilities for the company. Yes, there is vulnerability in asking for input, but there is true strength here too.

Another area of opportunity in this economy is in affirming the value of each individual in a team or organizational structure. While this is not the right time for monetary reward, it is an excellent time for recognition. With budgets shrinking and uncertainty running rampant, some team members will probably be in positions of high visibility and importance and receive ambient and direct recognition (sales, lead developers) while others (customer support, development teams, manufacturing, etc.) may feel overlooked or under-appreciated. What if a leader were to spend the remarkably small amount of effort required to make sure that each team member feels like a true team member, that all contributions are appreciated, that all members are valued?

There are at least two benefits resulting from adopting some form of these two suggestions.

The first is that the heath of the organization will be improved since congruency (sanity) is restored, new ideas/solutions will be gathered, processes for future idea farming will be in place, and team members will be thinking beyond their immediate areas of expertise and spheres of influence as they generate innovative ideas and share best practices.

And the second benefit is in individual satisfaction. How do you think these feelings of collaboration and appreciation would impact talent retention once the economy shifts, and other companies begin to hire more enthusiastically?