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OBSERVATIONS about the REPERCUSSIONS from 9/11 and the RECESSION

Sitting where I do and hearing from so many professionals at all levels and ages, I wanted to report on what I feel is an important issue we are experiencing but not understanding. I also attended a recent seminar titled, “Revitalizing Your Organization after a Layoff, Personal and Organizational Strategies.” That was led by Paula Dillard (www.ascentpartners.net) where what I have observed connected with the underlying psychological issues she outlined, issues that we haven’t noted or acknowledged.

A Series of Observations: The first example-- I was visiting with a newly promoted Director who had relocated his family to the PNW (Pacific Northwest). He had recently been given a much larger area of responsibility without any increase in staff. Meanwhile the company suffered losses, as had the rest of the industry, and no additional funding was in the pipeline. He had been working just to keep his head above water and was focused on “getting through.” When we talked, he was eagerly looking forward to a vacation and seemed mentally exhausted. He was coming to the end of a draining emotional and physical marathon. He also had experienced a family health crisis on top of all these pressures. 

That same week, virtually all the people in our profession that I talked to had experienced severe illness among close family members or had lost elderly relatives. It was a not a coincidence.

Another example of overload: a normally well organized senior-level professional working for a Fortune 100 Company was supposed to have joined a group for an important phone conference. Hours after it had ended, I received an email saying she had lost track of the time, even though she had intended to join us, and had lost the details about the meeting. When we spoke later that day, she reported that she had missed several appointments and just seemed to be unable to control her calendar. I told her not to worry and launched into a 15-minute explanation of how she fit a trend. She had hit overload and her body was sending a clear signal that she could no longer ignore her needs. (She was not having a “senior moment”.)

The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, April 30th in the “In the Lead Column” talks about, “Trying to Contact Me? Manners and Business Get Lost in the Crunch.” The writer, Carol Hymowitz confesses that she is simply unable to keep pace with the hundreds of communications she receives each day; so she ignores them. She reports on a trend where people are concerned by how rude it appears we have become and how that is a serious problem. All of us, it seems from a personal perspective, hate hearing from a recording. 

From the company standpoint, executives say if they answered all their messages that is all they would do, especially considering the elimination of support staff. Staff assistants are a luxury when a company is downsizing, one they cannot sustain. The result is, as guilty or as stressed as managers feel about ignoring calls, executives are making finely honed decisions about what comes first on their to do list, what calls are top priority and work down from there, ignoring the rest. In essence, we are saying that we are working on overload every day. We cannot expect to finish our tasks or to ever have enough time to behave in line with our values about how we respond to people. This creates on-going stress. 

Yet another case study: a Human Resources Director when she was hired, negotiated working from home one day a week since she has an exhausting commute. She is equally if not more efficient working from her house, but there have been management shakeups and her new boss (one in series) keeps saying that she is needed in the office. Meanwhile, the company’s stock is being battered by the market and it is a high stress environment. The fact that she is not available in person for one day creates a feeling of uncertainty and disquiet for her boss. The Director was hoping the situation would change so that she could take the one day to work remotely. I told her there was no way that she could not expect to change her work schedule given what I learned about the psychological dynamics that come into play during difficult times.

The toll we have paid: we are in an extraordinarily difficult period that has lasted for over a year. The impacts from the tragedy of 9/11 and the recession have not been fully recognized. Our bodies finally tell us we must take a break because we experience the harmful effects of on-going stress in the form of illness, fatigue and loss of concentration. That is why in a business where creativity and strategic contributions (thinking outside of the box) distinguish competitors, our decline in productivity is apparent. We have had too much to do to stop and pay attention to our physical and emotional needs and now all of the neglect is catching us with us. As we head into summer when we traditionally take a breather, health issues surface and we gain a perspective on just how high a toll we have paid over the past 12-months.