If things are ‘getting better’, why does 2022 feel so hard?

Much of our work at the Wellbeing Outfit over the past two years has been supporting individuals and organisations to move through the three broad psychological stages of COVID (normal, crisis, renewal). Using our understanding of psychology, we’ve helped organisations anticipate how their people will likely react, and put in place strategies to sustain staff wellbeing and organisational performance.

A key mistake many leaders have made is assuming that things would return to normal after the crisis phase. Instead, many have found new challenges have emerged, including high staff turnover, reluctance to work out of offices, and staff burnout. By understanding the three psychological stages of COVID, leaders can better respond to these challenges and build a culture of high wellbeing and high performance.  

Stage 1: Pre-pandemic normal — Stressful but predictable 

It's easily forgotten, but life was stressful in 2019. The stresses we had in the normal phase before the pandemic were different. They were about executing the stories of our daily lives: “I'll catch a train from my house to work today”; “My kids will go to school today”; “I'll book a holiday to visit my family interstate". If we have control of our decisions and life unfolds according to the script in the back of our heads, we feel safe. We feel like an adult.

Stage 2: Crisis — “I know you hate it, but it’s good for you."

It was the loss of control that really signified the start of the crisis phase, and transported us back to a child-like identity. For the better part of 2020-21, we surrendered our decision-making to centralised authorities on the basis that it was good for us. It is a conversation that’s not dissimilar to one that a parent might have with their young child.

Intellectually, we know it’s the right thing to do, and we know how we got there, but the removal of our autonomy fundamentally affects our wellbeing leading to increased anxiety and a sense of hopelessness. 

Stage 3: Renewal — Trying on different identities without locking ourselves in

The rollout of vaccines and the removal of many social restrictions triggered the phase we’re in now, renewal. Rather than returning to an adult identity, we are all looking to answer the fundamental psychological question:

Who am I when I am not in crisis?

In renewal, we're back to making our own decisions, but we’re not quite sure yet who we are or who we want to be when we’re not in crisis. This stage mirrors adolescence.

Like adolescents, we crave autonomy and control but don’t often know what to do with it once it is handed to us. Many of us swing between compliance and defiance. Once we understand this, it makes sense why so many organisations are struggling with a simple policy like return-to-office arrangements, and why many people are failing to take positive actions to sustain their wellbeing. 

What can leaders do to support their people through renewal? 

Understanding the psychology underpinning these three phases can help leaders make sense of the responses of their people. The key to good leadership in renewal is to enable your people to have more control over daily decisions while recognising that making those decisions won’t come easily.

Some key actions that may be helpful include:

• Set challenges not instructions — To drive autonomy, leaders need to clearly articulate the goal and empower their team to determine the path to achieve the goal. Where possible, avoid giving detailed instructions and resist the urge to take over if things are taking too long.

• Build trust through inclusion — Involve your people in as many decisions as possible, particularly about issues related to personal autonomy such as new work arrangements. When people are not involved in decisions, take the time to engage deeply around the rationale.

• Develop a compelling vision with your team — After two years of crisis, many people know what they don’t want, but haven’t reflected on who they want to be. Use team offsites to build a compelling vision of your team at their best. This will help build a sense of connectedness and excitement that has otherwise been lost.

“I can’t wait for things to be normal again” is a phrase we’ve heard often. It also represents a dangerous mindset as it romanticises life before the pandemic, and doesn’t allow us to reflect on how we have learnt and grown in the last two years.

A more constructive mindset is to expect life to be differently hard as we all navigate the challenges of renewal. A key aspect of navigating renewal is for leaders to support the autonomy of their staff, foster connectedness across the team, and develop a compelling vision of the team operating at its best.