By: Dr. Dawn-Marie Turner
We are restructuring.
Those three words can stop productivity, raise anxiety, increase stress, and decrease engagement almost as fast as you can say them.
Reorganization or restructuring is a business reality. At some point, every organization, regardless of its size, will need to reorganize or restructure. A reorganization is not to be taken lightly. It also should not be the goal, but it may be a necessary step toward the desired outcome.
Regardless of the reason reorganizations are tough for the employees affected. Having a clear need, outcome, and ensuring the restructuring is well planned will help your employees move through the restructuring. Even with thoughtful planning, your employees may still struggle to find balance and manage the stress of the restructuring.
Helping employees learn new skills and techniques to reduce the anxiety, and maintain a sense of stability is one way to facilitate a smoother transition. For example, one employee found she was able to maintain a sense of balance and stability during the reorganization of an upscale retail company. Despite not being involved in any of the decisions.
What accounted for her sense of balance and stability?
She attributed her ability to move through the restructuring to learning how to reframe the situation. She stated, “it wasn’t always easy, it took some coaching and practice”.
The reorganization was still challenging, but learning to reframe led to feeling less stressed. As she mastered the skill she also started to see opportunities that were hidden before. In different jobs, and providing different levels and types and service, getting change is challenging. No one likes to hear his or her department is being reorganized or eliminated.
Reframing is just one of the techniques you will learn in our Increasing your Personal Readiness for Change course.
Reframing isn’t just putting a positive spin on a negative situation. Reframing allows us to reroute our emotional response from one that increases our discomfort to one that is health enhancing. It’s about exploring different perspectives to open up new ways of thinking and find hidden opportunities. One study of 400 employees found employees who were able to develop a stress-enhancing mindset reported having better health, greater life satisfaction, and superior work performances. Reframing is one the skills needed to develop a stress-enhancing mindset.
We all have hidden filters and unconscious beliefs that affect our ability to respond to stressful situations. When we become aware of how these hidden beliefs influence our thinking and response to change, we gain more stability and feel a greater sense of control. Reframing helps you will allow you to uncover those beliefs, and reduce feelings of powerlessness during organizational change.
When there is a change going on and you feel you have no control, it’s easy to get angry, and frustrated. This leads to increased feelings of stress.
At Increasing Your Personal Readiness, I share with you four keys to personal change readiness. You will apply specific techniques to help you harness the stress you feel and turn it into something positive for yourself.
Helping you turn change from a liability to an asset
