Thanksgiving Reflections

I always love Thanksgiving week; not only is the week short, but since so many of our colleagues and clients are on vacation, it’s a great time to catch up and take stock of things at work.  As a result, the first two days of the week are quite busy here at CRNW.  In honor of this season of thanks, I’d like to publicly give thanks for the amazing team that works here to serve our clients.  And, I encourage each of you to do the same for your own incredible staffs who work alongside you to serve clients, both internal and external.

This economy has been stressful for everyone, for firms that have lots of work and firms that are searching for more.  And, given shrinking staffs, our remaining teams are stretched thin, working longer hours to accomplish more work.  In fact, given the procurement “season”, I know many marketing and technical staffs will be spending time over the Thanksgiving holiday writing/editing proposals for late November due dates (and that will be a subject for a later blog – but in the interim, WHAT were those selectors thinking setting proposals due on the 29^th/30^th of November!!!??!!).

A lifetime ago in graduate school, my area of focus was on organizational stress and strain –and I’ve continued to be interested in this area of research.  Stress is a normal part of organizational life that varies with workload, team dynamics, market conditions, and any kind of change – good or bad.  And, most employees cope with stress quite well, with many performing their best work in stressful or chaotic situations.  However, when employees stop being able to cope with and adapt to organizational stress, it becomes strain, which is always a bad thing for the employees and the organization.

Symptoms of strain include a litany of somatic complaints – when physical meets psychological – such as sleeplessness, stomachaches, headaches, etc.  Organizations may see an increase in absenteeism and a decrease in productivity.  Previously high functioning employees become unfocused or even incredibly dissatisfied. Some leave; others simply implode.

The most important thing our own research has revealed is the importance of the relationship the employee has with his/her first-line supervisor relative to the employee’s ability to cope with or adapt to higher levels of stress.  In fact, key to avoiding strain or moving an employee from strain to coping, depends on the strength of the supervisor/subordinate relationship.

In this economy, the relationships we have with our staffs are increasingly important.  Supervisors need to remember the centrality of their role in the organization – not just to manage work, but to be a social support for employees.  This means stepping outside our own stressful work lives to actively engage with employees, learning what they need and how you can help.  It does not mean being sucked into the personal drama of a challenged employee, but it does mean developing a relationship with the employee in which s/he can ask for and find critical assistance.  And, it means obviously, regularly, repetitively thanking employees for their hard work.

Employees who feel their work matters do better work because they feel more connected to and more engaged in a relationship with the organization.   Most supervisors are very good at corrective action, finding problems and resolving them. But, most employees respond much more readily to recognition as a method for improvement.   So, in this week of thanks, set aside some time to not only give thanks for your team members’ work, but to tell them specifically what you appreciate.

As we leave our offices on Wednesday for some much needed time with family, friends, and the turkey, make sure you leave your organizational family feeling good about their jobs, their organization, and their worth to you and your projects.  Then, all of us can come back rejuvenated and ready to buckle down in the hectic weeks before the New Year.  Happy Thanksgiving.