CURRENT STATE: CHANGE IN AUSTRALIAN WORKPLACES 2020
What if we updated our view of change to more appropriately reflect the current reality of continuous disruption that comprises our world and workplaces? What if we expanded our view of change to embrace the reality that there are not always clear indicators of success or failure, and instead recognise that change is actually an open-ended development process, often with no clear end point?
This report, in conjunction with The Change Lab and the David L Cooperrider Center for Appreciative Inquiry, aims to uncover the disruption that the COVID-19 pandemic is creating for employees, take a closer look at how individuals are truly perceiving change, and how their experience of change is interconnected with their wellbeing.
1. CURRENT STATE: CHANGE IN
AUSTRALIAN WORKPLACES
As the dynamic, demanding, and unpredictable nature of modern workplaces grows, too many workplaces remain stuck in the out-dated early 1900’s principles of scientific management, which focused on solving straight-forward technical problems by “managing change” to deliver measurable improvements. While this was adaptive for the industrial age, such approaches fail to account for the dynamic, human-centric nature of the modern workplace. The need to navigate ongoing disruption has become the new normal in most workplaces. Yet human beings rarely respond to changes like machines that can be managed or controlled. Although workers often perceive change as negative, others embrace and thrive with change. People are adaptative beings who are most likely to thrive when given the freedom to meaningfully meet their individual and collective needs for connection, learning and growth as they navigate the changing world around them.
39.1%
OF AUSTRALIAN WORKPLACES
AND TEAMS ARE CONSISTENTLY
THRIVING WHEN IT COMES TO THE
CHANGES EXPERIENCED OVER
THE LAST THREE MONTHS.
2. THE ESSENTIAL CHANGE SKILLS
NEEDED: CONFIDENCE AMPLIFIERS
Research has found that workplaces, teams and people thrive when they have the confidence and resilience to navigate between states of change and stability. Instead of confusing the need for control with the desire for order, these workplaces create psychologically safe spaces that are guided by their vision and values, and encourage their people to take meaningful, independent and collective actions that benefit their organisation and everyone who depends on it. If this sounds potentially messy, chaotic and risky, that’s because it usually is. The truth about change is that it invites differences of thought that can create conflict, but when navigated with intention and care, these differences can also lead to the creation of new possibilities. The good news is that when a diverse interplay of thought is characterised by playful give-and-take within a respectful environment, ideas and actions emerge that no one could have predicted or accomplished on their own. Rising to these opportunities, however, requires the ongoing amplification of our abilities, motivation, and psychological safety to successfully navigate change.
31.1%
OF AUSTRALIAN WORKERS
FELT COMPLETELY ABLE
TO HELP CREATE POSITIVE
CHANGE IN THEIR WORKPLACE.
3. BOOSTING THRIVING: TAKING A SYSTEMS APPROACH
Creating change is not a solo endeavour. Associate Professor Aaron Jarden notes that our perceptions, experiences, and behaviours are diverse and spread through a complicated web of social connections at the Me (individual workers), We (teams) and Us Levels (the entire workplaces and the communities that surround them) that not only impacts workers’ experiences and performance, but also their wellbeing.
40.4%
OF AUSTRALIAN WORKERS
REPORTED THAT THEY
UNDERSTOOD THE KEY
DECISIONS BEING MADE
IN THEIR WORKPLACE
4. REDUCING STRUGGLE: UPDATING OUR BELIEFS ABOUT CHANGE
Feelings of struggle, uncertainty and stress are not signs that we are breaking, but simply signals that something important for us is unfolding that needs our attention and action. When we have the confidence to navigate change, struggle does not undermine thriving. Unfortunately, studies suggest that we underestimate our ability to tolerate the discomfort that accompanies struggle and undervalue the opportunities for learning and growth that come from disruptive experiences. Stability often wears the disguise of advantage – making everything feel calm, steady and in control. But prolonged periods of stability can dull our senses and resilience for new challenges. In short, experiencing struggle does not necessarily diminish our ability to thrive and can even enhance it.
34.9%
OF AUSTRALIAN WORKERS REPORT
THAT THEY ARE STRUGGLING
WITH THE AMOUNT OF
UNCERTAINTY THAT
CHANGES BRING.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Julie McNamara
Media Specialist, Mahlab
[email protected]
0419 595 688
