Cigna announces expanded relationship with Happify Health to support the emotional health of millions of its members
The Upside Skip to main content Accessibility Options
LOG IN
  • HOME
  • HOW IT WORKS
  • GET INSPIRED
  • THE SCIENCE
  • BUSINESS SOLUTIONS
  • LOG IN
HOW TO MANAGE CHANGE AT WORK 71% of employees say they’re overwhelmed by the amount of change at work. 43% of employees are willing to support organizational change at work. 66% of a company’s or organization’s change initiatives don’t succeed as planned. The Top 3 Disruptive Changes for Employees 1. Leadership changes or executive turnover 2. Layoffs 3. Return-to-office mandates NOT YOUR FATHER’S CORPORATE JOB The Deal Has Changed The nature of the relationship between employee and company has changed drastically in recent decades. Some qualities many contemporary workplaces share: ● Workloads have increased. ● Companies are often focused on cutting labor costs. ● Workers are decreasingly committed to a company. ● Employees are unsatisfied with levels of employer flexibility. A UK study suggests that switching from a 5- to a 4-day workweek may increase both employee happiness and company revenue. CHANGE IS STRESSFUL To Decrease Tension as an Organization: ● Be clear and certain about the change you’re planning. ● Consult employees about the change. ● Communicate well and clearly with everyone involved about the change. To Decrease Tension as an Employee: ● Rely on your support networks throughout the change. ● Be proactive in solving any problems that come up. ● Manage your own stress throughout the process. MANAGING THE WORKPLACE Training Can Help In one study, a 5-hour educational program helped employees facing a company downsizing and restructuring respond with more resilience. Outlook Not Good In general, restructuring within organizations tends to have a mostly negative impact on staffers, according to a review of 39 studies on restructuring published in a 12-year period. Commitment Slips Away When employees feel they have been treated unfairly, during a restructuring or otherwise, they are less likely to feel loyalty to the company. One Bad Apple A single difficult or negative employee can have a wide-ranging detrimental effect on a work team. It’s best to counsel that person or let them go. What’s Your Coping Style? When faced with an organizational change, some employees put their heads down and get to work, whereas others will call in sick, quit, or otherwise avoid the change. If you recognize this avoidance behavior in yourself or your staff, try to get on board with the change early to avoid feeling overwhelmed. BE A GREAT BOSS How to Coach Others Through a Change 1. Watch and Listen Staffers may not express their anxiety directly, so be on the lookout for signs like absenteeism or particularly negative attitudes. 2. Demonstrate Concern Talk openly about what you know of the change and welcome input from them. 3. Fix What You Can Take the initiative to alleviate stress for your people by changing what you can. For example, if it’s in your power to change the software your team uses to one they prefer, change it. If you can allow telecommuting while still getting results, do it. 4. Be Positive and Look for Opportunity Encourage your team to take initiative and don’t join the naysayers. 5. Train and Prepare Get training for your team to deal with the changing procedures or technology if possible. 6. Don’t Delegate Down Keep decision-making about large-scale change with senior leaders. They are best positioned to solve complex problems that may arise. A TOOLKIT FOR STAFFERS Simple Tricks for Survival These strategies can help during times of upheaval. Try one or several of them. ● Find the Funny Try to find a moment of humor in a stressful situation. It can help you change perspective. ● Recognize Feelings but Don’t Dwell Notice whether you’re angry, anxious, or resentful but don’t focus on that. Move on to positive solutions. ● Use Stress Wisely Stress can help you accomplish your goals. Try to avoid getting stressed over the fact you’re stressed. ● Give Yourself a Break Pausing for up to 10 minutes at work can enhance well‑being, replenish your energy, and boost your performance, according to one review of 22 studies. ● Focus on What’s Important to You A series of studies showed that people going through stress were helped by a simple exercise of writing for 10 minutes about a time when a value they held affected them positively. ● Accept, Then Advocate Take the changes in and then take charge of what you’ll do with the future you have. Don’t be a prisoner to the change. ● Expect Change Research found that, among employees in a changing industry, those who fared best accepted the changes as an expected part of life. Those who suffered pined for “the good old days.” SOURCES Albulescu, P. et al. (2022) “Give me a break!” A systematic review and meta-analysis on the efficacy of micro-breaks for increasing well‑being and performance. PLoS One. Arizona State University. (2007) Fight or flight: How employees cope with organizational change. W.P. Carey magazine. Capterra. 2022 Change Fatigue Survey. Cole, M. (2009) Employee’s Loyalty to Workplace Damaged by Unfair Treatment. Journal of Management Studies. De Jong, T. et al. (2016) The impact of restructuring on employee well‑being: A systematic review of longitudinal studies. Work & Stress. Durr, J. & Kamins, C. (2013) Four Rules for Successful Change Management. Gallup. Economy, P. (2015) 5 Powerful Ways to Help Your Employees Cope with Change. Inc. Felps, W. et al. (2006) How, When, and Why Bad Apples Spoil the Barrel: Negative Group Members and Dysfunctional Groups. Research in Organizational Behavior. Gartner 2024 HR Priorities Survey (2023). Heerwagen, J. et al. (2016) The Changing Nature of Organizations, Work, and Workplace. Whole Building Design Guide. Lewis, K. et al. (2023) The Results Are In: The UK's Four-Day Week Pilot. Autonomy. Rogerson, S. et al. (2016) A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial Investigating the Impact of a Workplace Resilience Program During a Time of Significant Organizational Change. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Smollan, R. (2017) Learning to cope with stressful organisational change. International Journal of Work Organisation and Emotion. Tasler, N. (2016) How to Get Better at Dealing with Change. Harvard Business Review. Visier. (2024) A Year of Change Fatigue: New Research Reveals That Employees Are More Anxious and Distrusting After a Turbulent 2023. WalkMe. (2022) Change Management Statistics You Need to Know in 2023.

COMPANY

  • About Us
  • Business Solutions
  • Team
  • Advisors
  • Investors

DISCOVER

  • The Science of Happiness
  • How to Be Happy
  • Meet Our Experts
  • Get Inspired
  • Shop

MORE

  • Jobs
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • GDPR Commitment
  • Press
  • Contact Us
download on the apple app store download on the apple app store

FOLLOW US

2025 © Happify, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy. Twill does not provide medical advice, psychiatric diagnosis or treatment. All third-party trademarks, service marks, logos and domain names appearing on this web page are the property of their respective owners. None of these companies endorse, sponsor or are in any way affiliated with Twill. See Additional information.