The past year of trauma, loss, and upheaval has dramatically altered the workplace. Faced with continuous disruptions and forced to adapt to lockdowns, layoffs, and homeschooling, employees are understandably exhausted.
There are rising levels of stress and burnout across the globe: 75 percent of employees in the US and almost a third in the Asia-Pacific region report symptoms of burnout, and European countries have reported increasing levels of pandemic fatigue.
But for all organizations, there are more changes ahead – like vaccination rollouts, back-to-the-office plans, mergers, and acquisitions, or revamped company strategies. Change is essential to business survival, and many organizations are undertaking necessary transformations right now.
This has created one of the biggest challenges organizations will face in 2021: How can they buoy employees exhausted from relentless turmoil and change, and equip them for the further changes coming their way this year?
Communication will be at the very heart of how companies and their leaders step up to this challenge. To help you tackle what lies ahead, we asked three experts in behavioral science, communication, and change management to share their advice for employee communicators this year.
Download “6 tips to combat change fatigue” to read each expert’s top two pieces of advice for re-energizing your workforce in 2021.
Tim Vaughan
Editorial Director, FWI | Poppulo
Cyber criminality is an enormous and sophisticated business that threatens every organization, big and small. We’ve seen that from hospitals to energy providers, banks, and food suppliers. No company is safe—and employees are one of your highest security risks.
As Internal Communication (IC) teams increase the scope, breadth, and impact of their comms, a fissure is forming between employee experience and IC intent. And it’s getting bigger. There’s a gap between the perceptions of IC and the reality of the employees they communicate with, but with the right strategies, you can start communicating with your employees more effectively—plus have a greater impact on the business.
It might have taken a pandemic to make it happen but, at long last, “experience” is where it’s at.
