Managing fear of redundancy during Digital Transformation
Managing fear of redundancy during Digital Transformation
Businesses are constantly evolving, but it can be scary to make changes to a company that could affect executive leaders and employees. With coaching, the fear and disempowerment of these changes are transformed, creating a positive atmosphere for everyone in the organization during significant change by working with them to bring about confidence and regain empowerment.
Research has found that when employees feel they are at risk of being fired, they are inclined to perform below their potential, leading to high employee turnover rates. This creates a negative cycle where employees noticing the slip in their own performance feel they may be misjudged based on their current performance, which increases stress levels and further exacerbates their fears.
However, it has been found that if the fear is replaced with a sense of control or ownership over their own performance, the employees’ performance improves significantly. A lack of control over their work life is also a common factor among those who fear losing their jobs due to redundancy. They may feel insecure knowing they can’t control the decision-making process and will thus become less productive as they lose their sense of control.
Fear of redundancy is a common phenomenon in organizations, during digital transformation projects. With technological advancements and changing roles and responsibilities, many employees are keenly aware that redundancy may affect their careers as the landscape is constantly evolving. These employees do not want to go through the pain of redundancy and thus may avoid taking up new positions or even stop working altogether. Employees have become reluctant to take up new positions with higher salaries and benefits in such cases. They are afraid that they would be placed in jobs with less responsibility and less control over their career choice.
Fear of redundancy is a form of anxiety. It’s about the unknown, about being left behind and not having any control over your fate. Employees may be afraid to reach for their phone to go to new meetings because they think that if they do that, they’ll be exposed to redundancy on that call or meeting. They may also be afraid to take a vacation to ease the stress of being left behind.
By understanding and recognizing what employees may be going through is a product of fear, organizations can look towards coaching to disempower fear and empower confidence, managing the workplace to create an environment where these fears aren’t allowed to play out in your team.
The impact of redundancy fears in employees on their performance is complex. Employees afraid of being made redundant are more likely to be less productive than those not scared of being made redundant.
Fear can also affect work-related decision making, and in most cases, fear can cause significant delays in making decisions. Fear plays a significant role in the performance of employees. It can lead to a decline in employee productivity and motivation, which may negatively affect other areas of the organization not even affected by the change. Employees worried about being let go or demoted may neglect their duties to create a sense of justification for failure, thus hurting the business performance and reputation. Employees are most afraid when there is a great deal of uncertainty about their future.
When employees feel uncertain if they can complete all the assigned tasks, they may stop working for several days or even work in a partial capacity for some time. Affecting the performance of employees and makes them experience severe burnout.
The fear of redundancy is linked with anxiety disorders such as panic attacks, agoraphobia and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), making it difficult for employees to concentrate on work and leading them to experience problems at work such as poor concentration and reduced motivation.
Redundancy is the fear that one’s position will be taken away from them instead of another individual, which sometimes creates a hostile environment where employees compete for the same job. The impact fear has on both individuals and organizations aggravates and adds to increasing stress levels.
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