Fear affects productivity

FLUX: A CONSTANTLY CHANGING WORLD MAKES PEOPLE INSECURE ABOUT THEIR JOBS

By 2020, 37% of companies questioned expect to employ more contractors.

It’s obvious that our world is in a constant state of flux. Change is the name of the game and this state of affairs will undoubtedly continue for the foreseeable future. From relentless technological disruption to political upheavals to economic instability, people are feeling more and more uncertain about their place in this unstable world.

One of the areas that concerns people most is insecurity about their jobs.

The 2018 Global Human Capital Trends report, recently released by Deloitte, highlights a number of ways in which this fear is manifesting in the workplace. For example, out of more than 11 000 respondents, 49% indicated their companies have done nothing to help older employees find new careers as they age.

This puts a significant portion of the globe’s population at risk, as people need to retire later because of our increasing life spans.

In addition, by 2020, 37% of organisations expect a growth in contractors, 23% in freelancers, and 13% in gig workers.

This puts job stability even more in doubt as companies can start to hire temporary workers with specific skills on a job-by-job basis.

Neuroscience, which focuses on how the human brain works, can provide an interesting framework for interpreting why employees feel threatened and what happens to their productivity and motivation when they do.

Neuroscience tells us the central organising principle of the human brain, which applies to all areas of our lives, is to maximise reward and minimise danger.

The brain scans for threat every 5 sec, so fear is a significant driving force in how we interact with the world around us.

Although these systems in our brains are now seldom activated by physical threat, they are still triggered when a social threat is detected.

The fear of uncertainty in our jobs creates the same reactions in the brain and body as the fear of being attacked by a lion in the wild.

If we feel like we’re in danger, our brain is put into what we call a threatened state, which can be triggered by any of the five areas of human social experience: status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness and fairness.

Being in a threatened frame of mind has a negative effect on our capacity to solve problems, make decisions and collaborate – all vital for ensuring a profitable, productive workforce.