The past few months have been some of the most challenging many of us will have faced both personally and professionally. On top of changes to our day to day lives, we’ve had to bid farewell to a number of colleagues and friends and we’ve dealt with enormous changes to the ways we work and the people we work with.
With so much change taking place our resilience can be affected and it’s possible now that some of us may experience something called “Survivor Syndrome”, or in other words, an emotional reaction to the recent changes (Xpert HR, 2020).
If you’ve had initial feelings of relief that you are still employed by Carnival UK, these may be replaced with feelings of guilt and anger that your friends didn’t, alongside worry about what the future holds. Similarly, if you found Collective Consultation stressful, this can affect your health and wellbeing and lead to negative emotions, compounded by having new responsibilities, a new team to get to know and all while still working remotely.
How to spot Survivor Syndrome
As Heroes of safe and Well it’s really important that we’re all able to spot the signs of Survivor Syndrome in ourselves and our colleagues before they take hold. Key signs to look out for include feeling:
- Less motivated
- Less satisfied with your job and not delivering your best performance
- Guilty that you still have a job whilst your colleagues don’t
- Fearful about future job security
- Less committed and engaged with work
- Angry and resentful
- Stressed and overwhelmed
To help you reduce the potential negative effects of Survivor Syndrome, there are few things you can do to help yourself and your colleagues.
- Try to look at what you can control, such as how you react to new information; how you communicate with others; your behaviour and attitude towards your new team and manager; how much you involve yourself and contribute toward the future and the amount of effort you put in.
- Recognise what’s outside your control such as how others communicate with you; reactions of others; other people’s behaviour and attitude towards the future – try not to react to this.
- Speak to your line manager about any concerns so that you can find a workable solution.
- Avoid rumours and speculation and seek out accurate information – remember to use The Insider as the single source of truth.
- Remember it can take time to adjust to our new organisational structure and ways of working so be patient and kind to yourself.
- If you’re worried about your own health speak to your line manager who can refer you to Occupational Health, or contact Validium, EAP for 24/7 confidential support.
Support for you
The health and wellbeing of colleagues remains our number one priority, so to support you now and in the future here’s some further resources which we hope will help you find your feet and establish your new focus.
Employee Guide; focusing on the future
Last week we shared a guide to focusing on the future. This pack features useful resources, helpful hints and top tips on working together to adapt and adjust as we navigate the coming months. Read it again here.
Webinars on The Cove
A series of webinars have been recorded for you to dip in and watch when convenient. To watch, log into The Cove library and visit:
Focusing on our Future (10 minutes)
Learning Academy-Core > Self Mastery > Core: Focusing on Our Future
Managing Pressure & Having a Wellbeing Conversation (Four webinars , each 10 minutes)
HESS > Health > Managing Pressure & Having a Wellbeing Conversation
If you’re ever feeling anxious, remember support is there for you. Find out how here.