This is a problem because now that the bill has been signed into law, employees are wondering what it means for them and what it means for their companies.  What will happen to our benefits?  Will our out-of-pocket costs go up?  What if we work in health insurance or health care – how secure is our future?  The more these questions are left unaddressed, the more they amount to distractions and anxiety in the workplace.

Larry Turner, CEO of Roundhouse Advisors, points out that “employees will fill any void of information with their own assessment of the situation.” When company leaders aren’t communicating, employees often come to the conclusion that management has no idea what they are doing.

As I’ve discussed in previous posts, it is essential to ease employee anxiety by increasing communication.  So how do you communicate to employees when you don’t have all of the answers?  John Cowan, Editor at Ragan Communications, suggests:

This advice echoes that of change communication experts, TJ and Sandar Larkin, who once wrote: “When you can’t make promises, communicate possibilities and probabilities.”

Recently, Jennifer Benz, Chief Strategist and Founder of Benz Communication developed a terrific (free!) template to use when communicating about health reform. If you are a leader, communication specialist, or HR professional I urge you to use this template today to start blogging, emailing, and talking with your employees.

For more on the topic, check out:

• Jennifer Benz’ post:  What to Tell Your Employees About Health Reform
• Larry Turner’s article: Tough Times Requires Greater Employee Communication
• My e-book: Transforming Anxiety into Energy
• My blog post: Increase Communication to Ease Employee Anxiety

Joseph Grenny, co-author of Crucial Conversations and several other bestselling books recently wrote, “If people in your organization don’t frequently cackle out loud with each other, you’ve got serious trouble.”  According to Grenny, a lack of laughter can signal a lack of trust.  In addition, a lack of laughter may be impeding a group’s ability to connect and bond.

It so happens that I came across Grenny’s article at the same time that I was reading Kay Redfield Jamison’s book, Exuberance.  Jamison makes scores of references to the importance of play and laughter at work.   Jamison states that laughter would have been vital to the early development of humans because it would have helped to disarm tension and relieve stress.  It would also have been a sign of trust that would then allow and encourage people to come together and take risks as a group.

As a facilitator, I have the opportunity to work with scores of groups in any given year.  It is amazing to me to see how the first 3 minutes with a group accurately indicates the overall mood and trust level in an organization.  When people are laughing and kidding with one another as they settle in to their seats, I know that we will be able to address real and relevant issues.  When people aren’t talking and making eye contact (let alone laughing) I know that we will need to spend a lot of time attempting to build trust before people will speak up.

Many leaders I work with wish that their people would speak up more.  They crave more rigorous discussions and signs of enthusiasm. What they sometimes fail to realize is that, as the leader they set the tone for people’s willingness to take risks.

If you want to encourage genuine group connections, trust, and openness you may want to start by helping people laugh at work.  You don’t need to be a comedian.  Start by simply showing your own vulnerability from time to time.  Laugh at yourself and with others, then watch as people begin to open up.

To read Grenny’s full BusinessWeek article, LOL at Work, click here.

So how do you engage employees, or re-engage them? Lessons from the field of positive psychology indicate the importance of paying attention to how people feel before you focus on what you want them to do.  In her book, Exuberance, John Hopkins psychiatry professor Kay Redfield Jamison writes, “In times of adversity, inspired leadership offers energy and hope where little or none exist.”

In tough times, effective leaders help other regain feelings of hopefulness, optimism, and energy.  One example of a leader who did this successfully was Winston Churchill.  Lord Franks, England’s ambassador to the United States after WWII, heard Churchill speak many times.  After one of these occasions Franks wrote, “I came away more happy about things.  He dispelled our misgivings and set at rest our fears; he spoke of his aim and his purpose so that we knew that somehow it would be achieved. He gave us faith.”

If you lead an organization, department, or team it is equally important that you begin the process of re-engaging your employees by first acknowledging the emotions people are feeling, and then communicating in a way that rebuilds hope and enthusiasm.  For specific tips on how to do this, download my free e-books, Transforming Anxiety into Energy and Leading After Layoffs.

Has your company held layoffs this year?  If so, chances are high that the layoffs are taking a toll on the morale of your employees.

A survey released last month by Watson Wyatt found that:

• Employee engagement for workers at all levels dropped 9 percent last year and close to 25 percent for top performers.
• Compared to last year, top performers are 20 percent less likely to recommend their organization to job seekers and 14 percent less likely to remain with their company.

For more results from the Watson Wyatt 2009/2010 U.S. Strategic Rewards Survey, click here.

To learn how to re-engage and re-energize your workforce post-layoffs, check out our e-book:  Leading after Layoffs.

John Kotter, Harvard professor and change expert, uses the term “A Sense of Urgency” to describe how critical energy is for any change to succeed.  In a recent, Inc. article, he gave an example of how one leader communicated with his staff to address the recession and to build energy for moving forward.

Check out the Inc. article by clicking here.

For more on the topic, check out Kotter’s book, A Sense of Urgency.

Be Accessible

As a senior leader, you need to be accessible and visible to your employees. When there is a problem, don’t wait until all the details of the solution have been fleshed out before informing your workers. Instead, inform them of your progress along the way as the decisions are being made. In uncertain times, it is more important than ever to be accessible. You’re not just there to share information with the workforce, but to build trust with them along the way, and dispel rumors as they spring up.

Don’t Hide From Bad News

You have nothing to gain by withholding bad news from your employees — they know times are tough and that your business will have to adapt in order to survive. If you try to pretend that everything is perfect, your employees will lose their trust in you, and communication will become harder. Letting your employees know when changes need to be made is the best thing you can do to stop rumors. When employees trust you to tell them the bad news, they will stop believing office gossip and wait to hear the truth from you.

Personal Communication

All too often, leaders communicate bad news via e-mails and memos. All leaders are busy, but your first priority must be the productivity of your workforce. Research has shown that face-to-face or voice-to-voice conversations build up trust in a relationship and also improve the clarity of your message. You may find yourself stumped by a question that you didn’t expect, but don’t worry. Your people don’t expect you to be perfect, but they will appreciate the time you took to talk to them.

Listen

Face-to-face communication is two-way, which is a massive advantage. You will often find that your employees have great ideas that can help you, but listening doesn’t have to be about finding answers. Your employees will be motivated by the knowledge that their ideas and feelings are valued, and it can help them engage with the business and with you.

Acknowledge the Unknowns

Talk as honestly as you can about what you do know and what you don’t. Your employees will recognize that you can’t know everything, and it will help to build trust and clarity if you explain why some details are still uncertain. Don’t make promises you can’t keep — if you are unsure, talk about probabilities and possibilities instead.

Communication is the bedrock of good management practice, and the only way to get the best out of your workforce. Make sure you communicate openly, honestly, and readily.

I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts.
- John Locke

The timing could not have been more perfect.

This week I am teaching a dialogue skills class and working on the course has given me a chance to think about the conversations we dread and the conversations we simply don’t have. One theme that keeps coming to mind is the importance of the stories we tell ourselves.

So often we avoid difficult conversations because we tell ourselves a “story” that gets in our own way.  If I tell myself that another person is being impossible, that he or she won’t listen, that there is no possible resolution, or that bringing up an issue will forever destroy our relationship – those thoughts dictate my actions.  I avoid the person.  I stay silent.  I stew and simmer.  When anyone tries to convince me to talk with the person, I count of the score of reasons why nothing will help.

Before I can change my actions, I need to change my story. 

In the workshop I am teaching, I asked participants to work with a partner to describe a sticky situation that have been avoiding addressing.  First they described the situation and then their partners probed into their story.  Next, the partners were asked to help put a new spin on the story – to bring up a different perspective or possibility. 

We did many different exercises and activities throughout the day so I was surprised when, during the wrap up of the class, person after person said that the story activity was the most important takeaway for them.  Many people reported that just changing their story gave them hope, confidence, and even excitement about having a conversation they’d been dreading. 

What stories are getting in your way?

After the 30 or so of us signed in with the Court Clerk, we were shown a video.  I admit to bracing myself for something preachy and boring. However, 30 seconds into watching “The Colorado Juror” I was digging in my bag for a pen and paper to capture notes on how good the video was!  I thought it was an effective example of the order in which to cover points when dealing with a resistant, skeptical, or hesitant audience.

#1: Start with empathy for the emotions people are feeling.

The video started with clips of four past jurors talking about how anxious and annoyed they were when they received their summons.  As people chuckled and nodded along, the tension in the room started to dissapate.

#2:  Appeal to a sense of purpose

Following the four clips, the narrator said, “I’ll bet you are thinking that someone else with less important things to do should be here instead of you.”  This got a good laugh as we all realized that we all thought our agendas were more important than everyone else’s. After empathizing, the narrator then came on to say, “We know you might not be thrilled to be here, but you are playing an import part in the process that makes our country great.”  The video went on to talk about the role that juries play in giving people a fair trial and how important each juror is to the process.

#3: Provide details of the plan.

Only after relating to what people were feeling, and appealing to a higher purpose, did the video go inot the nuts and bolts of how the process would work.  This stage a) gave the jurors information about the types of juries, the selection process, etc. and b) helped us know what to expect for the rest of the morning.

What struck me most was the fact that if the information in this video had been covered in a different order it would not have been nearly as effective.  Whoever wrote the script realized that starting with emotion, then moving to purpose, and finally getting into details/plans/information would fit the psychological state we jurors were in. If the video had started with information – I have no doubt that we would have rolled our eyes and felt unappreciated. 

All in all, a great example of how a well crafted message can turn resisters into supporters.

The results of the study are summarized in the report, “Engaging the 21st Century Multi-Generational Workforce.”

The primary focus of the study was on whether generational differences matter when it comes to employee engagement.  In short, the answer is yes.  Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes, Ph.D., director of the Sloan Center says, “We found that different factors ‘drive’ the levels of engagement of different groups of employees.”

While the insight into engaging the different generations is reason enough to read the report, I was particularly interested in the findings related to how different groups of employees are weathering the economic storm. 

Employees from both Generation Y (age 26 and younger) and Generation X (age 27 – 42) reported a drop in engagement, while employees in the Baby Boomer and Traditionalist generations reported almost no change in engagement. 

This phenomenon may be due to the fact that employees of the first two generations have never experienced tough times, whereas older employees have.  Having lived through previous downturns, Boomers and Traditionalists may have learned that things ultimately do get better.  As a group, workers over the age of 43 may therefore have developed more resiliency. 

The study reminded me of a recent BusinessWeek article about how the recession is impacting the country’s youth.  According to their Age of Anxiety piece,

” They (the millennial generation) are entering the workplace at a terrible time, and their first career decisions could have financial implications that last for years.”

So What?

Both the study and the article both point to the fact that we need to do more to help younger workers cope with the anxiety of living and working in a recession. 

If you are a Baby Boomer or Traditionalist boss, find time to have conversations with your younger workers about how they are feeling and coping. You may feel that you don’t have time to “coddle” younger workers given all of the other demands you face.  However, my own research and that from Harvard professor Bob Sutton, shows that employees can become paralyzed by anxiety which then results in decreases in productivity.

So taking some time to share your own stories of recovering from previous downturns and suggesting strategies that helped you cope in the past may ultimately improve the your younger workers’ productivity and your team’s results.

I recently worked with a Vice President from a defense company to create a town hall meeting that allowed and encouraged her more tenured team members to connect with the newer folks.  The experienced employees shared their suggestions for dealing with chaos, anxiety, and overwork.  The immediate result was a palpable sense of relief in the room and a heightened level of energy across the team.

You can also watch a 9-minute video of Sutton discussing the topic on The McKinsey Quaterly’s website.