Pandemic Fatigue: Real or Imagined?

"Authors note: I wrote this back last November and in reviewing/finding it today (April 2021 the theme remains very valid and hopefully provides food for thought as we try to free ourselves once and for all of the tragic and deadly COVID-19 pandemic. My thanks for your interest and thoughts."

As we enter December 2020, it is I believe a safe statement to make that all of us some days feel like we have been through a 10 round heavyweight fight with the current COVID-19 pandemic and even the most resilient of us are feeling some level of frustration and fatigue. And having read and written a great deal this year [more than 50 articles, many on the impact of COVID-19] I have started to see the term “pandemic fatigue” become more popular.

This observation led me to do a quick Google Trends search for the phrase “pandemic fatigue” globally and as can be seen in the linked graph, the interest over time in the phrase has exploded in the past 90 days or so. 

I used articles authored and published by McKinsey & Co. on a wide array of subjects in my published works. Without exception the quality and integrity of their research is of the absolute highest pedigree; and an article published by Aaron De Smet, Laura Tegelberg, Rob Theunissen, and Tiffany Vogel of McKinsey & Co. on “pandemic fatigue” caught my eye and I will discuss the more relevant parts of their work relative to the factoring industry in this document. Entitled “How To Overcome Pandemic Fatigue and Reenergize Organizations For the Long Run.”

As owners, leaders and managers of our professional factoring firms, it is our responsibility and duty to actively manage the employees, partners and others that we work with on a daily basis. This has been an increasingly difficult challenge to accomplish in this tainted era. We also need to try to cultivate the quality of the relationships we have with our employees and lead with empathy and demonstrate a capacity for resilience to insure a positive and productive culture exists in our factoring organizations in these stressful times.

In a normal week [if there is such a thing anymore] I talk to a lot of different prospects, partners and other on the phone and an odd thing has begun to happen to me in the last couple weeks or so. More and more of the calls that I am involved in wind up discussing how their family, office or business is coping with the current deadly persistent COVID-19 pandemic. And this sentence or phrase comes up in the conversation; “The whole COVID-19 thing is bad and seemingly getting worse. I am sick of it and feel a pandemic fatigue that is really hurting me/us.”

So what do we do when we hear this? There are no easy or simple answers to this question.

I think the first thing that each of us needs to do is to recognize that “pandemic fatigue” is a real problem and that it is perhaps hiding under the mask of a smile plaguing our businesses.

Consider what all of us have had to deal with so far this year; a deadly global pandemic, economic collapse and shallow recovery, social unrest, political uncertainty and more. The current COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we work in ways almost impossible to imagine nine months ago. Technology has made our lives easier with remote work and at the same time has isolated us more than ever before. Right alongside the virus we have seen a stress epidemic unfolding right before our eyes. And some of the cracks in our mental health shield like increased substance abuse, alcohol use and frayed family interactions are becoming more visible and evident than ever before. 

When I ask people how they are doing and I often get the responses of “Great,” “I’m fine” or “I’m hanging in there,” a more honest and foreboding tone of response can be heard when we choose to listen carefully and empathetically. Phrases like “I’m hurting,” “I’m burnt out and overwhelmed,” and “I am really anxious about my future and what is going to happen to me and my family” creep out into the conversation. I have started to keep track of these calls and over the past couple of days the one that I have heard over and over again now is “I’ve lost my sense of optimism, and or I’m not sure how much longer I can take this.”

So I was relieved, but concerned when the above referenced McKinsey & Co. research pointed out that 75% of employees in the United States and close to 33% in the Asia–Pacific report symptoms of burnout. It also noted that European nations are reporting increasing levels of pandemic fatigue in their populations. Their research stated that the number of those who rate their mental health as “ poor” is more than three times higher than before the crisis, and mental-health issues are still likely to rise.

The one bright spot in their research was that while the most recent news of the vaccine front is all positive, it still does not completely erase the fact that there are millions of people all over the world really hurting and are likely to remain that way from a long time to come.

This text taken verbatim from the McKinsey & Co. could not be more insightful:

“This is about more than coping. As Albert Einstein said, “In the midst of every crisis lies great opportunity.” Organizations have an opportunity to do more than just “get through it,” restoring the performance and work life enjoyed before the crisis. Many employees already have a sense that we aren’t likely to simply “bounce back” to how things were before the COVID-19 crisis. The pandemic, and our collective responses to it, are likely to result in permanent shifts in consumer preferences and buying behavior, business models, and ways of working.”

Which leads me to ask a simple question: how did we get to this point and what can we do to make the best out of a clearly bad situation?

The McKinsey & Co. research provides insight into the answer to my question. If we think back to the beginning of the pandemic [March in the United States], companies and other organizations in most cases responded quickly and aggressively to what was happening. Most succeeded in doing this pretty well in spite of the fact that nothing like the COVID-19 pandemic had ever been seen before in modern history. Most businesses including ours committed to protecting the health and wellbeing of their employees, clients and partners as the single highest priority or goal. In an era of unprecedented uncertainty, true leaders emerged from companies and organizations of every size and industry and there was a sense of support and an attitude that “collectively we can quickly overcome this menace.”

And at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the concept of working from home or remotely [once we overcome the technological challenges and snafus] was both invigorating and challenging. Speaking on a personal basis, I was amazed and happy with the amount of work and overall amount of things that I could get accomplished working remotely exceeded my expectations. And on a more global basis, the communication stream of what was happening, what future plans for working remotely, etc. were pretty steady and consistently positive and upbeat in nature.

But now some 9 months later, the bloom is clearly off the rose and with the recent exception of a promising vaccine is on the near term horizon, nearly all of the seemingly never ending news about the COVID-19 pandemic, the economy and other events that were occurring have been negative and in some cases depressing. The fact that there is really no clear idea of when this pandemic might end adds additional uncertainty and anxiety in many employees and prospective clients today.

I compare this to an athlete who trains to run a 100-yard dash and trains accordingly; only at the last minute is told that the race is now a marathon and is not prepared to even compete. And when we think about our employees and partners, I wonder if some are simply tired of the sprint and have run out of gas given the unstainable pace that many are being asked to operate at.

This environment is what McKinsey & Co. does an excellent job of pointing out in their research. They note that this congruence of fatigue, exhaustion and uncertainty is why we are entering into “the early stages of a potentially prolonged period of disillusionment, grief, and exhaustion—a period that may get worse before it gets better.” Please refer to Exhibit 1 for a graphic presentation of the post crisis response stages and the path of collective psychological response to a crisis.

Another fascinating area of discussion in the McKinsey & Co. research were their thoughts about the human nature of how we have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. They point out that it is important to understand that the current sense of disillusionment is to be expected given the amount of stress that is swirling around us at the present time. Their belief is that disillusionment is a normal cognitive response to a traumatic disruption, and there can be no argument that the current COVID-19 pandemic meets these qualifications. They write that “disillusionment is distinct from general disappointment and sadness, occurring when deeply held beliefs and expectations are challenged by circumstances. Perhaps best described as fueling “shattered assumptions,”6 COVID-19 has challenged our treasured beliefs about what the future will hold.”

So like many, I feel a tinge of this disillusionment every time I sit down at my laptop working remotely. I thought that I would be back in my office and able to interact with my colleagues, clients and partners. Instead, we find ourselves as isolated as possible.

This disillusionment must impact even the most positive and strong-willed employee negatively and I think we have to see how the pandemic has damaged levels of motivation, energy and the mental health on a global basis. Add to this the fact that we have lost friends and family to the virus and that our social networks have been stolen away from us with no idea of when we will be able to interact again with others. Isolation and uncertainty provide the fuel for the engine that has sapped our energy and spirit.

One final point to consider is that even though the pandemic has been with us only 9 months or so, it will take years to have a complete reversal of the impact of the virus to overcome. As a result, wise leaders will need to understand and insure that plans are designed with empathy that reflect this long timeframe if they want to provide their employees and partners the necessary window for them to work through the emotional and personal challenges they will certainly face.

This poses a potentially thorny issue for leaders of all organizations and businesses; how do we balance the need to lead all who we manage on this journey?

The McKinsey & Co. research provides us with a comprehensive plan of attack to successfully accomplish this nearly monumental assignment. They start out their discussion by pointing out that reenergizing an organization when there are no easy answers is hard to do.

I have only presented in summary manner verbatim the five ways they outline as tools to effective guide your factoring basis in the post COVID-19 crisis era. I would again encourage you to look up their research for a more involved discussion of the action steps they propose you could use in your factoring business.

1.     Administer the antidote to disillusionment: Bounded optimism

To level the slope of the downward curve and emerge stronger faster, leaders should act with bounded optimism. That is, they need to display inspiration, hope, and optimism that’s tempered by reality and help their people make meaning out of the circumstances by creating an understanding of what’s happening, and what responses are appropriate. Meaning builds confidence, efficacy, and endurance but also can serve as a balm if the outcome takes longer or is different from what is expected. (See Exhibit 2)

2.     Listen deeply for signs of exhaustion and other natural responses to stress

One of the most challenging parts of this crisis is that, despite the overwhelming desire for a certain and perfect plan to reenergize the organization, there simply isn’t one. Leaders who accept this fact are able to manage the energy and mood of their organizations, taking an adaptive approach that allows them to discover their way to solutions. Such an approach starts with a much deeper and more holistic form of listening than organizations are accustomed to.

3.     Develop adaptability and resilience skills at scale

The pandemic experience can be viewed through a similar lens: a critical part of succeeding through it will involve embracing the quest to move forward. The ability to grow and develop, especially during times of change and stress, is a new and high-priority muscle for leaders to build. Leaders who strengthen the resilience of their workforce not only do the right thing for their people but also set themselves up to succeed in the new normal of volatility and virtual work. Upskilling on adaptability and resilience can be a powerful way to improve well-being and experience, which in turn has been shown to improve creativity, innovation, engagement, organizational speed, and performance.

4.     Focus on care, connection, and well-being

Since the start of the pandemic, organizations have launched myriad initiatives, ranging from wellness programs to video conference happy hours to support employees. While these have been undertaken in earnest, they have often are received as yet another thing to do and fail to address the real source of energy drain. When you think of well-being as a holistic concept, so much more can be done. Organizations need to place greater emphasis than ever on fostering and nurturing human connection and caring.

5.     Unleash energy by evolving the organization’s operating model

As we’ve noted above, the most effective leaders see the COVID-19 crisis as a way to reimagine the post pandemic organization. They are doing this in three key ways: by operationalizing and activating purpose; by reimagining the work, workplace, and workforce of the future; and by creating a faster and more flexible organizational structure.

In summary, as leaders in our factoring industry each of us needs to be prepared to lead our businesses, employee and partners from the current state of disillusionment successfully into a productive and more positive post COVID-19 future. How we respond will have a significant impact on the health of our employees, partners, clients and the communities we operate in for years to come. We need to remember that a well thought out and executed plan on how to respond to the current COVID-19 pandemic will be a defining leadership moment for each of us, and that we need to find ways to successfully reenergize our factoring enterprises, with the highest degree of empathy possible. When we do, our employees and all we serve will be rewarded with a more robust and successful place to come to work, grow, and excel.

Note; the authors of the referenced McKinsey & Co. article include Aaron De Smet, who is a senior partner in McKinsey’s New Jersey office, Laura Tegelberg who is an expert in the New York office, Rob Theunissen who is a partner in the Amsterdam office, and Tiffany Vogel who is a partner in the Southern California office. The authors thanked Simone Cavanaugh, Ashish Kothari, Johanne Lavoie, Kate Lazaroff-Puck, Marino Mugayar-Baldocchi, and Sasha Zolley for their contributions to their article.