Helping Each Other and Our Teams During Times of Change Brandon Sullivan, Ph.D. OHR Employee Engagement Manager March, 2013

Agenda Stressors in today’s workplace How the workplace is changing Burnout Engagement What you can do to increase engagement

Top Workplace Stressors Faster pace of organizational change Decreased autonomy, voice, input into key decisions Greater demands on your time, energy, and emotional reserves Lower support from coworkers, supervisors, and others Unclear expectations and goals Conflicting expectations and goals Decreased fit between you and your job Top Workplace Stressors

The Old Workplace Mutual Loyalty Common Identity Trust & Stability Individuals feel a strong obligation and loyalty to the organization Employers feel a strong obligation and loyalty to employees Mutual Loyalty Individuals identify with the organization Allegiance is to the organization and its members Common Identity Broad trust in institutions and leaders Employer provides stable career path Change treated as an infrequent and discreet event Trust & Stability

The New Workplace Transactional Relationship Change is Constant Individuals stay with an organization until they get a better deal elsewhere Employers retain an employee as long as it makes financial sense Transactional Relationship New jobs emerge that didn’t exist before Current jobs change or become obsolete Organizational structures always adapting to new challenges Change is Constant Less trust in institutions and leaders Greater transparency and accountability for results and use of resources Less Trust, More Accountability

So What? Weaker identification with the organization as a whole Stronger identification with occupation, discipline, personal network Employee responsible for own career (and more empowered) More focus on what you, your immediate team, and your network can do

Activity Discuss with a partner 1-2 ways your current work and workplace are changing How are these changes affecting your stress level?

How Do Individuals React? When work demands consistently exceed the available coping resources, a process called burnout begins…

It Starts with Exhaustion Feelings of being over-extended, depleted of emotional and physical resources, feeling “drained”

Next: Depersonalization, Cynicism & Detachment Human services occupations: depersonalization – ceasing to see one’s students, clients, patients, or customers as individual human beings Non human-services occupations: cynicism and detachment Under the circumstances, this can be adaptive

Finally: Reduced Efficacy Reduced feelings of effectiveness and personal accomplishment Can result in less effort and poorer performance

Burnout … if not addressed, burnout can lead to increased turnover and absenteeism, greater risk for physical and psychological illness, spillover of stress to personal relationships

Create the opposite of burnout The Way Forward Create the opposite of burnout

time, energy, enthusiasm Employee Engagement! Key Drivers Campuses, colleges, units & departments build trust and create a sense of collective purpose Consistently effective leaders and managers Challenging work that provides a feeling of mastery Engagement Individuals are enthusiastic, passionate, and committed to their work and the University Key Outcomes Great work environment and effective culture Discretionary effort (going above-and-beyond) Performance and innovation Recruitment and retention of top talent Individual Organization time, energy, enthusiasm Has to be a two-way street:

Taking Ownership What can we do? Build and communicate a shared vision Key Drivers Campuses, colleges, units & departments build trust and create a sense of collective purpose Consistently effective leaders and managers Challenging work that provides a feeling of mastery What can we do? Build and communicate a shared vision Set challenging goals that contribute to the vision Provide clear roles and expectations Ensure the free flow of timely, high-quality information Remove barriers to success with a sense of urgency Take every opportunity to recognize and reward good work Listen actively and seek to understand others’ viewpoints Demonstrate concern and support for others’ wellbeing Actively help others make progress toward career goals Decades of research show these factors to be foundational for building highly engaged, high performance teams

Activity With a partner, discuss which drivers of engagement are current pain points for your team or unit Brainstorm some practical ideas your partner might try to address these pain points

Questions?