Last week, SEED had the opportunity to participating in the Business Fest organized by HR Fest. At the event, SEED hosted three tables during the Boardroom Program, focusing on the topic of “Change Fatigue.” This was an excellent opportunity for our team to engage with fellow leaders, share insights, and discuss future trends in leadership and organizational change.

ENGAGING DISCUSSIONS LED BY OUR EXPERTS

Dr. László Eszes, Róbert Huszár and András Kárpáty led the discussions at our tables, exploring the critical issue of Change Fatigue. Defined as the physical and emotional exhaustion resulting from continuous and rapid changes in the workplace, Change Fatigue is a significant challenge for many organizations today.

MUSICA – A COMPREHENSIVE FRAMEWORK FOR ADDRESSING CHANGE FATIGUE

During the discussions, we proposed the MUSICA model, a comprehensive framework to help leaders and organizations manage Change Fatigue effectively. This framework includes three key conditions that support individuals in engaging with change:

Motivation

• Moving purpose, goals, and process, which is the emotional component of motivation.
• Understanding of goals, plans, and impact to engage the rational mind, which is the rational component.

Ownership for Change

• Skills and Mindset: equipping individuals with the necessary skills and mindset to handle change.
• Involvement: involving people in the creation and shaping of change to foster a sense of ownership.

Supportive Environment

• Cultural-Social Support: Creating a supportive cultural and social environment.
• Aligned Operating Environment: Ensuring systems, processes, and infrastructure are aligned to support change.

LESSONS AND TAKEAWAYS TO ADDRESS CHANGE FATIGUE

The Boardroom Program provided a great platform for SEED to connect with other leaders, share experiences, and discuss our ideas and predictions for the future. What were the key topics and takeaways that we discussed and collected on this event?

• Intensity of Change: We are going through an incredible amount of very intense changes. People are not built for this, so it takes a lot of energy from everyone.
• Risk of burnout: Some people are able to tolerate it more easily, while others suffer more – burnout is a real danger and is becoming more common.
• Finding our own balance first: Just as in an emergency on a plane we must first put on our own oxygen mask before helping others, we as leaders must first take care of our own balance to be able to help our colleagues.
• Trusting environment: It is key to create a trusting environment where our colleagues can honestly tell us leaders when they are not feeling well.
• Attention to colleagues: It’s essential to pay attention to our colleagues, to be in the kind of relationship where we can notice when they are showing signs of burnout.
• Autonomy in Decisions: It is very important not to act under objective external pressure when we are implementing changes in the company. Everything is our decision. Just because the “big bosses” want something doesn’t make it an unquestionable constraint. It is important that we frame change in this way for ourselves and our colleagues.
• Motivation and Ownership: Keeping the team motivated and empowering employees to take ownership of their roles and contributions.
• Continuous Development: Leadership development and ongoing improvement is a key factors for success.

If you want to learn more about the topic, read our full whitepaper of ‘MUSICA’ – Managerial Toolbox to Change Fatigue written by dr. László Eszes. With this framework, we hope you can strengthen your organization’s resilience in the face of ongoing changes.