As my colleagues and I continue talking with clients every week, it is apparent that COVID-fatigue is starting to take its toll on people. To clarify, I am referring to mental exhaustion, not the physical symptoms. This feeling may or may not apply to you, but I bet it applies to those you know. How many people are saying the equivalent of, "I am SO done with this..."?
Whether you are in an official position of leadership in your organization or not, please take the above into consideration. Carve out time each day to talk with others you don't always interact with. When I do it, it isn't to check UP on them, it is to check IN with them. They are not their jobs or positions. They are people. They have joys and sorrows, and good times and rough ones.
From years of research, it is clear that far too many people (at every age range) feel they don't have enough people in their lives that they can turn to for support. What I am talking about is more than doing an occasional favor for each other. I am talking about feeling a connection-- wanted and valued as a person.
As this pandemic continues and it becomes clear that we are entering a new reality, people who may have been fine 6-12 weeks ago may not be in the same frame of mind. Fight off the tendency to believe that because you had talked with them several days or weeks ago that everything is still OK.
For me, as a natural extrovert, I openly admit I am missing the live interaction despite all the engaging Zoom calls I am on every day. The lack of variety of events on the weekends due to practicing social distancing has started to make the weeks all feel the same. I am not depressed, it is just an observation. I know I am not alone in what I am experiencing.
Clients have shared their stories with me. Some organizations are doing amazing things to add elements of fun and variety to the business environment, even when working remotely. While not costly, they are, in fact, regenerative.
The same way we can't save our way into prosperity, we can't cut our way to an engaged workforce. You don't have to spend a lot -- use creativity before capital -- to ensure you have a team that is with you for the long haul.
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Doug Brown
Chairman & CEO
Paradigm Associates LLC
Cranford, NJ
dbrown@... (908) 276-4547
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