A Trusted Mentor Can Help You Overcome Anxiety, Grief and Bullying in the Workplace

If ever there was a time to consider working with a trusted Mentor, it is now. Since the economic downturn of September, 2008, workplace distress is on the rise.

The Situation

Today’s workers find themselves in an atmosphere of workplace insecurity and insistence on increased productivity. Add to this the stresses of difficult supervisors, over-expectant work cultures, and workplace bullying, and you’ve got a lot for a worker to handle.

It is no surprise that today’s workers are looking over their shoulders at every moment.  They have seen their organizations lay off co-workers and are wondering if they will go next.

Experts have been weighing in on how this affects the workers that remain.

HR consultant, Nancye Combs, says that remaining employees actually go through a grieving process when co-workers are laid off unexpectedly. She says that sudden change can create insecurity and fear.

The truth is that not only are the remaining workers scared of being next in line for lay-off, they are often doing even more work and feeling less appreciated than ever.

It is no surprise then that workplace anxiety is on the rise. In a recent study reported by Ken Blanchard, when asked how much economic anxiety is present in today’s workplace, over 1000 employees responded this way:

Severe and High Anxiety in the Workplace: 29%
Some Anxiety in the Workplace: 56%
Low or No Anxiety in the Workplace: 15%

One can imagine that workplace bullying is reaching all time highs, too.  

Bullying is defined as “sabotage that prevents works from getting done, verbal abuse, threatening conduct, intimidation, humiliation, or exploitation of a known vulnerability,” by the Workplace Bullying Institute.

A whopping 27.5% of adult workers surveyed in a random sample say that workplace bullying got worse after the economy change

Another 22% of adults in this sample said that they were subject to workplace bullying for the first time after September, 2008.

Still another 27.5% said the bullying became more severe or frequent.

What is a worker to do?

1. Realize that no one has to go it alone. Create a solid support team that you trust implicitly. Talk things over with your team before reacting.
2. Learn the personality types of the people in your organization.
3. Create a strategy for dealing with each personality type in your environment. (This de-personalizes what you’re going through and is an effective technique for handling the real people in your environment.)
4. Consider working with an experienced third party Mentor: someone objective and caring that is outside of your organization and can become a trusted advisor to you; someone that has experience with what you’re going through; and someone that has successfully thrived despite difficult hurdles themselves.

Finally, realize that the repercussions of this economy may go on for some time.

Waiting for the ax to fall would be foolish; preparing yourself for any eventuality is smart.

© Franchise Coaching Systems 2009