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Despite dealing with change throughout the global COVID-19 pandemic, many workers are still struggling to adapt, affecting both workplace performance and wellbeing. A new study released by meQuilibrium found that a lack of workplace change readiness along with psychosocial risks are contributing to heightened levels of anxiety among workers.
The study found that HR executives are much more prepared to face change, demonstrating the highest scores in emotional composure (83.3%), compared to other employee groups. Managers had notably lower scores than HR executives, with nearly a quarter reporting that change makes them unsure how to proceed.
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The report also shed light on a troubling trend among Gen Z employees. Despite their familiarity with change, the study found that Gen Z employees show 34% higher change anxiety and 25% lower emotional stability than their older colleagues. Additionally, Gen Z employees are 64% more likely to struggle with morning motivation, 25% more likely to report burnout and 50% more likely to experience high job stress compared to older colleagues.
Unfortunately, the wellbeing advantage of remote/hybrid workers seems to have diminished, with on-site workers reporting only slightly higher levels of physical discomfort (41.9% vs 37.6%) and burnout (27.5% vs 25.9%) than their remote/hybrid counterparts.
“The ability to manage change effectively is no longer a luxury – it’s a necessity,” said Jan Bruce, CEO and co-founder of meQuilibrium. “Successful organizations must shift from simply managing change to proactively preparing teams to be change ready by investing in specialized resilience programs that not only help employees survive change but thrive during it.”
The report recommends that organizations looking to manage workforce change and reduce psychosocial risk should implement transparent, two-way feedback mechanisms to bridge the gap between leadership and individual contributors. Additionally, the report recommends that organizations support managers at the core with targeted training and resources, foster workforce resilience, conduct systematic psychosocial risk assessment and support Gen Z workers.
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