Often a firm does things that appear unfair. What if management is paid much more than the average employee. That creates a sense of unfairness. When one worker is promoted over other co-workers who appear more worthy, it generates feelings of unfairness. If a project that a team worked on for a long time is eliminated without a reason given, it breeds a sense of unfairness.
That feeling that the work situation is unfair leads workers to question if they are truly a valued part of a company. This leads to dis-engagement and lower productivity.
Get Over it or Get Frustrated
If your firm wants to thrive and achieve any success, your workers must learn how to shift focus from the fact that life isn’t fair to the most important thing impacting their personal success – themselves. By focusing on who they are gives them the ability to channel their power into actionable progress and ultimate success.
Develop Self-Awareness
In order to tap into their abilities, they have to know who they are. Self-awareness is a system of reflection that allows us to develop a deep understanding of our inner thoughts, feelings, desires, motivations, behaviors, and actions. It is by implementing a regular process of checking in with themselves to understand how they are thinking and feeling, what is driving their desires and motivations, and what lies behind the actions that then gives your workforce the power to make changes within themselves.
When we are empowered with the necessary information about ourselves we can begin to identify patterns in our thinking and behaviors that are not serving us and make changes to those patterns in a meaningful way that moves us forward (Waters, 2013).
Belief in Their Abilities
A belief in what your employees are capable of is essential to being able to tap into the power of who they are. When your staff understands what it is able to do, they are more likely to position themselves in situations and take chances that will result in favorable outcomes.
Self-awareness can significantly support this process by making a worker aware of her strengths, thus giving her critical information about her abilities. It is this knowledge of personal strengths that can help overcome challenges and make strides towards their goals. Research supports this by showing that those who have a high level of confidence in their abilities have a greater ability to manage stress and are more resilient in the face of trauma (Cherry, 2020).
Find Their ‘Why’
When dealing with hardships, tapping into your ‘why’ or purpose for something is often the backbone needed to offer support when things seem unfair. Finding your ‘why’ serves as motivation in the midst of the discouragement and demotivation that dealing with unfairness work can bring. It is the purpose behind why pursue a specific goal or fighting for a certain cause that will energize individuals, keep them focused, and ultimately ensures they don’t stop until they reach their ultimate target (Cherry, 2020).
Set Goals For Themselves
Setting goals is another way to focus more on self than on circumstances in a manner that is going to produce actionable results. Setting goals takes the issue at hand, analyzes it, and breaks it down in a way that makes tackling it more feasible and manageable.
This allows efforts and energy to be better invested because the goal can be conquered bit by bit. Then, as success is achieved within each of the smaller established goals, confidence is increased, and motivation is gained towards completion of the larger goal. This continues to fuel the inner drive to work until the larger goal is met, ultimately driving progress (Cherry, 2020).
While there is no way to avoid the lack of fairness that sometimes exists, spending more energy looking at the power and abilities within, your employees will be able to tap into what they need to conquer challenges and overcome adversity. It is when they recognize their inner strength that they become truly powerful and elevate their performance.
References:
Cherry, K. (2020, January). Use these 10 tips to improve your resilience. Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/ways-to-become-more-resilient-2795063
Waters, B. (2013, May 21). 10 traits of emotionally resilient people. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/design-your-path/201305/10-traits-emotionally-resilient-people