Aussie bosses ‘ failing to support workers’ through COVID change, report finds.
A new report has found over a third of Australian workplaces have failed to provide adequate support around navigating changes triggered by the impact of COVID-19.
The study, conducted by The Change Lab, The Australian HR Institute , and The David L. Cooperrider Center, of 1400 workers representative of the Australian workforce in August 2020 has found the systems and approaches used by leaders is the biggest contributing factor to how well workers are navigating change during COVID-19.
Change Lab Co-Founder Michelle Etheve says 36.3% of Australian workplaces are not providing their workers with adequate training, coaching or tools to help workers navigate change successfully.
“Workers who aren’t supported through change generally also don’t feel safe enough to be honest about problems which can result in lasting and sometimes irrevocably damaging impacts on workplaces,” cautioned Etheve.
However, she says focusing on the workplaces that are actually managing change well provides valuable insight into strategies all workplaces could adopt.
“39.1% of Australian employees feel that their teams and work places are consistently thriving in the face of rapid change and disruption; it is the way leaders are approaching change and ensuring workers have the skills they need to navigate change, that is making the biggest difference in these workplaces,” Etheve says.
For example, workers whose leaders took an invite-and-inquire change approach (where workers’ input to solutions was invited and they were encouraged to self-organize and find ways to make the best ideas happen), and leaders who took a tell-and-inquire change approach (where workers were told what was expected and then left alone to get on with it) were significantly more likely to report that the changes in their workplace were successful.
In addition, workers who reported higher levels of ability and motivation to help create positive changes in their workplaces were statistically more likely to report successful change outcomes in their workplaces and to have higher levels of engagement, performance, and wellbeing.
“If we are to maintain productivity and wellbeing in our workplaces, it’s fundamental that we look to workplaces that are thriving, despite the incredible pace of change they have been experiencing recently, and encourage all Australian workplaces to look at the systems and approaches these organisations have put in place.”
