Report: Employees’ ability to absorb change was cut in half during COVID-19
A new report from Gartner says that efforts must be made to improve employees’ sense of security and belonging to meet the demands of future innovation.
The disruption of many industries has been monumental during the COVID-19 crisis. With traditional market strategies undergoing transformation overnight, and years of digital evolution crammed into a few short months, change has been the constant.
Perhaps the only certainty about the future is that there will be more change. But new research suggests that employees’ ability to absorb something “new” is reaching a limit.
According to new data from Gartner, employees’ capacity to process change before they become fatigued or burnt out has be halved compared to 2019. “The amount of change employees can absorb without fatigue—negative reactions to change such as burnout, frustration, or apathy—has plummeted at a time when more change is precisely what organizations need in order to reset,” Jessica Knight, vice president in the Gartner HR practice wrote in a company statement.
In order to keep employees productive and engaged, leaders will have to become more sophisticated about change management.
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