Moving Beyond Fear: The transition back to the workplace

Two years ago, when we were faced with a global pandemic, we were thrown into a significant cultural shift in our workplaces. In addition to the wearing of masks, hand-washing and social distancing, there was a preference for working remotely for many employees, except for essential workers. To accompany these practical measures, messages from health authorities and from media generally engendered feelings of fear that permeated every level of society. I remember going for my usual early morning walks with my husband and then crossing the road to avoid other walkers who were approaching. It was so awkward at first but after two years of these safety measures in place it has become part of our daily existence. It is almost second nature now to put on our masks as we are about to enter a store for example, particularly as I am immuno-compromised.

In the working world, the shutdowns to minimize exposure to the pandemic saw a massive rise in the use of remote work and the use of virtual communications. The full effect of our shift to virtual communications can be illustrated in the figures from Zoom that in December 2019 they had 10 million daily meeting participants but by April 2020, that number had risen to over 300 million[1]. Virtual communications affected our daily interactions with every level of business activity from colleagues to clients to vendors.

However, these measures are beginning to shift yet again as our leaders decide it is time to get back to “normal.” It is time to treat the pandemic more like another seasonal respiratory disease than a crisis. We have been hearing news of large corporations such as Microsoft, Wells Fargo and Ford giving notice to their employees that they are to report for work at their office, at least for part of the week, to gradually increase over time. Recent research has shown that executives are more excited about returning to the office than employees. Are we ready for this change in messaging? Are employees ready?

Why are employees more reluctant to return to the office? Survey results tell us that many employees have fears for their health in the face of a pandemic that they see has not completely disappeared. This is not surprising given the constancy of two years of fear-based messages, warning of the dire consequences of close human contact. In my world, I have known cancer patients too frightened to attend treatment sessions in person for fear of catching Covid 19. The fear is real. It is difficult then to do a quick about face and say, “all is well, nothing to worry about now.” In making this transition back to the “office”, advice given to both employers and employees has focused on health questions to ask and on putting procedures in place to ensure ongoing safety.

My question for our return to “normal” is how much of this fear of being in proximity with others goes beyond the fears for our physical health? How much of our fear of Covid 19 has evolved into a generalized fear of being in the close presence of others? I have heard several people describe to me recently their nervousness about being in such close quarters with colleagues and it was not just about health. It is almost as if they were describing having to relearn the social skills of working in a face-to-face situation.

With the advent of the pandemic, our communications became more two-dimensional as we have shifted to viewing others through screens. This has not been without challenges with zoom fatigue, back-to-back meetings that have swallowed up the whole day and many feeling the invasion of their work into their personal spaces. There has been much more emphasis on direct eye-contact and facial expressions because all we see are our headshots at the same time as we have had to get used to seeing ourselves on the screens. While these are additional challenges, other aspects of communication have been stripped from us.

“videoconferencing does not allow for life-size presence in a shared space, the transmission of haptic (touch) or olfactory (scent) cues (Standaert et al., 2016), the ability to observe what attendees are looking at, to see attendees’ body language and gestures, to have side conversations with one or more attendees, or to examine and/or manipulate specific physical objects (e.g., prototypes or samples) (Standaert et al., 2021).”[2]

As I mentioned, communication has become more two-dimensional. There will be some who are eager to return to the office or face-to-face workspace but there will be many who will feel uneasy, who will have a sense of trepidation. Will previous office traditions be reinstated? Will there be new ones? For some, it is said that there will be a period in which a hybrid of remote and in-person work will take place, something that may even remain permanent in some instances. The ground underneath employees shifted two-years ago and now it is shifting again.

This is not therefore a simple case of “return to normal.” This is going to require careful management by executive staff to balance the various fears and needs of returning staff. There may still be the remnants of pandemic practices in place in some instances such as masks and social distancing that will make it less than “normal.” This will all take time to adjust. For those of you who have undertaken stress tests, you will have come to know that it takes the body a full year to adjust to any significant life-change.

So, patience is the name of the game and employers will need to be aware of individual needs to maintain staff, let alone maintain productivity. This return to the office will require careful work by employers as they work through balancing individual needs with ensuring equity and building group identity. This is not just about saying goodbye to a pandemic. It is about changing an entire messaging system from one of fear to one of optimism and renewed interpersonal connectedness. It will require advanced communication and negotiation skills as critical conversations are had.

Mission Aligned is particularly geared to assist you to manage this transition with both individual and group coaching. We use a highly engaging, interactive approach to clarify messages and to carefully plan a way forward. At a time like no other when 65% of employees declare that they are looking for new jobs[3] sensitive treatment of this phase will be essential. We look forward to making this transition alongside you. Contact us to create an individualized plan for you and/or your organization.

In a future blog, we would like to dig deeper into the "Great Resignation" trend as well as this reluctance to return to the workplace. Why are employees not more excited about returning to their work environment? Children describe the excitement of returning to in-person classes so that they can be with friends and teachers again. Why is the percentage of people not wanting to return to full-time work at the workplace so high (73%)?[4] This is a question that needs further discussion.

[1] Evans, 2020 [2] https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/10464964211015286

[3] https://fortune.com/2021/08/20/us-workers-looking-for-jobs/ [4] https://www.forbes.com/sites/edwardsegal/2021/10/05/the-great-disconnect-many-more-employers-than-workers-want-to-return-to-offices/?sh=61a47c3e1ad3