Trend #1: Mental Health: Preventing the Toll of Change Fatigue

This article is the third part of a blog series that discusses our insights into major workplace and hiring trends. As you prepare for what’s next in your own career, we invite you to check out the entire series. Learn more about how these trends could positively impact your career and make it an even more rewarding experience.

Organizations, managers, and employees around the globe have absorbed and executed an unprecedented scale of change over the last two years since the pandemic began, and often with little notice or prior planning. New practices and policies for where and how we work were required virtually overnight, and we are still adapting.

Change fatigue can result from situations in which too much change occurs in a short space of time, when change does not lead to successful results, or when leaders fail to steer and guide the change before it is firmly consolidated in the culture of an organization.

A Gartner study has found that employees have about 50 percent the capacity for coping with change than pre-pandemic. Combatting or, better yet, preventing change fatigue is necessary for such change to be successful —both operationally and individually— and sustainable.

The pandemic is receding, but the dust has not entirely settled. Most employees do not expect to return fully to pre-pandemic ways of operating. After a substantial time in which most workers experienced greater autonomy in how, when, and where they work, attitudes about work have shifted.

Organizations and managers are also adapting to change, and flexibility and adaptability have never been more important skills than now. To successfully navigate the ongoing shifts and adjustments in your work while protecting mental health, focus on the following:

Understand the reasoning and motivation behind the change.

Some change is inevitable, and we do not always get to decide which changes we need to adapt to. Instead of fighting change, understanding the rationale and benefit to change can help make necessary change feel more welcome and positive.

Consciously build your resilience.

Organizations and employees who are strong in adaptability and flexibility—two of the most valuable “soft skills” in today’s working world—will prevail as the new normal is defined and established. You can improve your resilience by developing new skills, setting new goals, or by pairing with colleagues to work more collaboratively and share ideas. Embrace change by seeing where its impact can be positive for your own career development.

Use your energy efficiently.

Be aware of your mental and physical rhythms. Having to return to an office environment should not mean dismissing insights you’ve gained about your productivity while working remotely. Make note of your chronotype – your internal clock that tells you about the times in the day in which you are most productive at different tasks such as brainstorming or answering emails, meeting with clients, or finding focused time to plan a presentation.

Make time for breaks that will help you physically and mentally: go for a walk or meditate with apps such as Calm or Headspace to increase focus and reduce feelings of anxiousness.

Interested in getting more insights like this to support your next career move? Check out the next article in the series, and download our 2022 Job Market Trends to Watch report now.