The tensions of the context, individual concerns about salary and job continuity, decisions companies make in pursuit of greater efficiency and lower costs, or even the difficulty of financially sustaining a structure, all have direct effects on individuals and the work teams they comprise.
Paradigms versus reality
It's common to find a line of reasoning at the decision-making level of companies that isn't subsequently verified in practice: a person who remains in their position in a difficult situation will likely redouble their efforts to improve, to show themselves employable and competitive.
However, everyday life is beginning to reveal something else: interpersonal tensions where none existed before, impulsive reactions, a decline in productivity, increased absenteeism, a rise in stress-related illnesses, and even a state of certain paralysis.
And why?
Basically, because uncertainty is exhausting, and worse if it's poorly (or not at all) contained. Because there are so many unanswered questions (when is it my turn?). Because there's the same or more workload and fewer people. The structure creaks. Processes become disorganized. Even if there was some oversizing before, adjusting the workload isn't as simple or automatic as it seems.
In the worst case, there is what we call Survivor Syndrome: an emotion that is sometimes vague and another that is more concrete, related to guilt: why did someone else leave and not me?
Is there anything to do?
Yes. There are always things to do.
It's necessary to examine and diagnose: those who "explode" and need support, those who get sick and tell us something about it, those who are overwhelmed by new burdens.
From there, we need to learn to address the situation and eliminate that big elephant sitting in the middle of everything, about which no one directly says anything. In times when "radio hallways" are playing at full volume, with silence we are emptying that communication space and allowing it to be filled with anything (truth or lies, without distinction). We need to manage, take ownership, accompany, and contain. In silence, none of this is possible.
Finally, we must return to think processes and tasks, redesign, test, evaluate and return.
To think about
These cycles reveal the company's trust capital. The greater this value, the better the results of containment-oriented actions. Otherwise, it will be time to review what has been done so far: the lack of transparency will be paid for with deeper and more difficult-to-manage uncertainties.
