Your Employees Are Probably Feeling Triggered at Work

In all likelihood, it's happening. Here's how to know when your employees are triggered, and what to do about it.

Original article from entrepreneur.com linked Here. 

 

Everyone has days that they are not feeling motivated, and their performance is not up to their usual standard.  There can be numerous reasons for this that have been studied since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.  Social sciences were born from moral philosophies being studied in the 19th Century and were influenced by the Age of Revolutions, such as the Industrial Revolution and the French Revolution.

We have come a long way from what was written and talked about by 19th Century writers and philosophers and the term “Social Science” is a 20th century term.  As I read an article “Your Employees are Probably Feeling Triggered at Work” that was shared by an employee my first thoughts were how do I react in situations where I know there is something, a trigger if you will that has an employee not performing well or acting differently than they usually do. 

As written in this article they may express themselves by behaving defensive, having low energy, suddenly isolating themselves, blaming others for project that have gone wrong, expressing anger from perceived unjust treatment from peers or management and being defensive when their beliefs or personal values are challenged in a group setting.

It is important that we open a discussion, acknowledge that you see that your colleague or employee are suddenly disengaged, fatigued, exhausted, or have trouble focusing.  Do not pry into their personal life and actively listen to what may be the root problem that is causing their trigger.  As the article says acknowledge, check in with them and engage in genuine conversation.  Of course, also do so without being intrusive into their personal business. 

You do have to discuss the performance issue or change in attitude and let them know you want to help them any way you can.  If you have an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) like we do with GLC Business Services, be sure to remind them and send them a copy if they do not already have one.  At GLC Business Services it is important for us to give our embedded staff all the opportunities to improve themselves and have an excellent work environment.           

 

 

Mark Starnes
GLC Regional Director