Rethinking employee engagement: how fear shapes engagement

My observations as a human being

I make no apologies for ‘dabbling’ in what some might say is a space that should only be occupied by psychologists. I’m interested as a human being… and as someone who has spent more than 35 years working in HR and delivering business training. Over decades, I’ve watched people pour time and effort into trying to solve a problem that, to me, appears to be the wrong problem to solve. I am and always have been about understanding the root cause of issues. Sticking-plaster solutions, in my professional and personal opinion, are a waste of energy.

Fear drives conflict

Fear, whether deliberately or unintentionally created, is something that is relevant to all HR teams when seeking to understand and address engagement in the workplace. Fear drives numerous unhelpful behaviours in both society and at work, including causing some to withdraw from the group, while simultaneously creating divisions between others. The consequence of fear is often a continuous loop of unhappiness, conflict and disengagement.

This topic can bring out strong reactions – and I’ve seen that first-hand.

I am not, it has to be admitted, short of a few opinions on what is going on in the world and in recent weeks alone, I’ve had three experiences of people seeking to close down a discussion simply because they disagreed – one demanded I provide ‘evidence’ of my opinion, the second said I had a ‘closed mind’ and the third called me ‘naïve’ and promptly left the room.

Different topics, different people, but so reflective of how people in today’s world don’t like to be challenged on their thinking.

In this article, I want to challenge your thinking, but I also genuinely welcome your input to the discussion!

My first experience of true division in society

I first became aware of how society is made to be fearful when I experienced the astonishing fear-mongering during the Scottish Referendum in 2013-14.

As the UK headed towards that vote, hostility between people with different views became unusually intense. There had always been some friction between our nations, but overt division felt rare before then.

The consequences of the vote going the “wrong” way (whichever way that may have been), we were told, would be dire, catastrophic even. Adult debate became difficult, and trust in data, media and reporting declined.

People say they want integrity, but it appears that integrity is increasingly hard to find… and that has somehow been normalised. We have been taught through our life experiences to be fearful and we have learned not to trust. No bad thing, some of you might say, but this increasing distrust is changing the world – and the world of work.

From the Scottish Referendum to Brexit and beyond…

After the Scottish vote, the UK lurched into more conflict with the Brexit vote. Whatever your views, I think we can all agree that there were deep divisions between people, unforgiving hostility, conflict and an endless barrage from political leaders of what many started to call ‘project fear’. Both sides talked about the collapse of society, the devastating loss of money, about irreversible positions, about fear of missing out and all we read and heard about in the media was wrapped up in adverbs and adjectives that mercilessly promoted fear, designed to escalate emotions… exceptional, devastating, huge, irreversible, incredible, catastrophic, unrelenting, damaging and so on.

In the years since, fear-based messaging has continued. We’ve seen environmental warnings, with dramatic depictions of doomsday clocks and urgent predictions of communities being flooded and land being lost, nuclear conflict, World War III, economic uncertainty, and the constant sense that something terrible may be around the corner.

Alongside that, there are wider debates playing out about digital IDs, the loss of freedoms and restrictions on speech.

And then, of course, social media adds another layer. People are exposed to all sorts of predictions, everything from talk of impending alien invasions to claims about a temporary loss of gravity and millions of deaths.

We don’t all have to believe all these things for them to impact us and those around us. And we can’t forget the most enormous project fear in 2020, the pandemic.

I don’t want to focus on the difficulties of these events and issues, but instead, I want to highlight what impact a continuous barrage of fear has on us as human beings, which of course, we then bring with us into the workplace.

If people’s nervous systems are already on high alert, it becomes very hard to relax, connect, and truly engage at work. Someone in “survival mode” isn’t going to be lifted by free ice cream, early finishes on a Friday or a quick drink after work.

Operating in a state of fear

When people operate from a state of fear, they are operating in high anxiety mode for sustained periods of time. That heightened anxiety is known to cause numerous things, including metabolic dysfunction and drive neurological processes that rewire our brains so we end up with this permanent expectation of fear and anxiety. All of that creates a group of people working for us who are really struggling with life.

I called out this anxiety in numerous webinars I delivered in the very early days of the Pandemic, but was reassured by business owners that all would return to normal. I knew it wouldn’t… and it hasn’t. Those who choose – and continue to choose – to carelessly or deliberately use psychological tricks to get us to comply, obey, or believe mistruths have severely damaged our population‘s health, even though in some instances it will have been done with the best of intentions.

Let’s focus on what we can control

I see too many in our society overwhelmed with such anxiety that they can no longer even watch the news on television. They can’t engage in debate on topical issues, and they are looking for somewhere to escape from the endless tales of fear that are being presented to us all.

And while we can debate who is to blame, the reality is employers cannot fix society, but organisations can influence the environment people spend most of their waking week inside.

Reducing unnecessary fear at work may be one of the most practical engagement strategies available.

What can employers actually do?

Some real, tangible things within an organisation’s control:

• We can control the atmosphere (aircon, lighting, fresh air etc) and the environment in which people work. We can make sure it is calming, reassuring and safe. There is lots of information available to help us do this.
• We can require our staff to be respectful to and considerate of each other, and educate everyone in what respect looks and feels like across the board (think respect to everyone rather than focusing on equality laws, as this is far wider than that).
• We can encourage discussion and adult debate of world and work issues. We can encourage our staff to talk about fears that might arise from those issues and how fear impacts them. It’s better for us to talk about it than pretend it’s just not happening. Our social connections and discussions at work cannot be underestimated when it comes to feeling comfortable and supported.
• We can communicate about internal issues and strategies, as there is nothing like an absence of information or conflicting information to cause rumour and panic.

And then there is education and training:

• We can educate, taking time to ensure a balanced and pragmatic view of events and the world – even economics, to ensure people are better informed and more able to ask the right questions and draw their own conclusions rather than being bullied into someone elses.
• We can educate both managers and staff about mental resilience and identify ways we can all build resilience to deal with what life throws at us. We can add education on accountability to this and seek to empower people to take charge of their lives, rather than work through each day feeling they are powerless.
• We can educate everyone about the impact of fear and about the marketing we are all subjected to that drives sales or engagement through seeking to make us fearful. Education about nudge theory and other theories of influence used by various organisations, all of which have the potential to make us fearful. Informed is forearmed and self-protected!

Fear is always worse when we feel we have no control. Knowledge, discussion and perspective can give some of that control back.

What else would you suggest we educate people about?

Address the root cause and then spend your fun budget. I hear about people organising bowling nights and doughnut vans to bring in some fun, and while I’m not against this…

First, help people feel steady, supported and informed. Then, build connection and enjoyment on top of that. How about a training where people learn how to build their resilience, followed by some real time to make and build social connections?

Fun budgets don’t have to be thrown out of the window, just used with a bit more consideration of what will really make a lasting impact.

And finally…

Education and discussion will help our employees differentiate fact from fiction, assess for themselves what is threatening and what is not threatening, or at least assess the level of threat and help them understand what they can take control of. Education combined with the ability to manage our emotions effectively and to think for ourselves will re-empower us all.

Let’s talk and educate so between us we can reduce the fear and get people’s nervous systems back to a sustainable healthy level of operation.