Imposter Syndrome Is On The Rise – Sonia McDonald

The Great Resignation Trend Is Coming To An End, But Imposter Syndrome Is On The Rise – Atlassian

While the great resignation has been a hot topic throughout Australian media in 2022, with gloom and doom in the headlines daily, it seems the tides are turning. 

That is according to the latest The State of Teams 2022 Report just released by Atlassian. Their annual study provides leaders with research-backed ways to create higher-performing teams and foster a happier and more positive workplace culture.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that 1.2 million people changed jobs during the year ending February 2022, which was 9.5% of the entire workforce, the highest since 2012.

Regarding professionals, the rate was more than double, with 22% changing their job, while the overall annual retrenchment rate was the lowest since records began in 1972.

But Atlassian’s research conducted in July 2022, 5 months after the ABS figures, surveyed over 1700 workers across Australia and the US (525 from Australia), has found that there is now a much more positive outlook as we come out on the other side of the pandemic.

78% of people surveyed responded that they are enthusiastic about their work. It is up a significant 9% from 2021 and a trend in the right direction.

While there were many reasons for this increase (not mentioned in the report), there were ongoing themes regarding worker happiness and flexibility.

Are leaders now finding ways to foster workplace happiness and team satisfaction? Have they managed to balance flexibility and improve employee retention rates?

Before jumping the gun, let’s dive deeper into Atlassian’s The State of Teams report to find out more

Creating Flexibility In The Workplace

If you want to keep your workers happy, you better be flexible. Not everyone wants to work in an office 9-5 anymore. These days, people want to be able to dictate their own hours. They want to be able to work from home. They want to be able to take a break whenever they please. And you know what? That’s perfectly reasonable. Workers should be able to have some control over their own lives. 

Otherwise, they will become stressed out and resentful and most likely look for another job. So if you want to keep your workers happy, give them some flexibility. 

It’ll do wonders for their happiness – and, as a result, your bottom line. According to Empuls, research has proven that happy employees are 31% more productive, while unhappy employees have a negative effect and are 10% less productive.

Atlassian has found that providing employees with the flexibility to choose their work locations leads to significant improvement regarding wellbeing, preventing burnout, encouraging innovation, and improving the perception of organisational culture.

• In 2022, 22% of workers are working remotely, a decrease from 34% in 2021. 
• While office only workers have decreased from 39% in 2021 to 35% in 2022.
• A hybrid work model of a mix of remote and office working has increased from 27% in 2021 to 43% in 2022.

Hybrid work arrangements continue to grow in popularity and appear to be the future work model while providing employees with better work/life balance.

Before making returning to the office mandatory, you should strongly consider continuing flexible workplace arrangements, as workers have proven to increase productivity while working from home. For example, Prodscore reported a 47% increase in productivity in March and April 2020 compared to the same period in 2019.

Flexibility can create a huge ripple effect through your organisation, especially regarding the positive perception of your culture, which strongly links to increased employee retention rates. 

Employees are also more likely to consider their team innovative if it has a hybrid or remote work model.

At the moment, there is an upward trend towards workplace flexibility. For example, 55% of people surveyed agree with the statement, “I can choose between working from home or an office on a given day,” and 51% said they could choose to live in another location besides their office’s location.

Can Flexibility Help Improve Diversity?

Diversity is one of the most important aspects of any company. After all, a diverse workforce is a more productive one. It’s also a more creative one. And it’s better to understand and serve the needs of a diverse customer base.

So how can flexibility help improve diversity? For starters, it can help attract a more diverse talent pool. That’s because flexible workplaces break down barriers such as commuting for people with disabilities or living in remote areas without public transport infrastructure. In addition, by providing employees with the opportunity to work from home, you open up your organisation to a much larger pool of potential hires, which can also mitigate a shortage of employees you may face if limited to office-only positions.

Flexible workplaces can also help retain a more diverse workforce. That’s because people from all walks of life often have different needs and priorities. When those needs are met in the workplace, it creates a feeling of inclusion and belonging.

Improvements Leaders Have Made In The Workplace

There are a few instances of leaders making positive changes in the workplace, which has helped contribute to the 9% increase in employees surveyed being happy with their workplace. They include:

• Respect On The Rise

Last year 66% of participants agreed that it was normal that there was respect for different views and perspectives on their team. In 2022, this number has continued to increase to 75%. 

That is a significant improvement going from 2 in 3 people to 3 in 4 in just a single year. If only this were a trend happening in our personal lives as well.

• Transparency When It Comes To Decisions

Not only is respect in the workplace increasing, but transparency in decision-making also is. For example, 63% of people surveyed said they have visibility into the decision-making process, up 12% from 2021 (51%). 

Atlassian also reported that trust in leadership rose 11% in the past year. Perhaps it is a coincidence, but respect, transparency and trust often go hand in hand.

Challenges Of Flexible Work Arrangements

Flexible work arrangements have many benefits, but Atlassian also found some unique challenges, such as accommodating team members with different schedules while keeping everyone aligned to specific tasks and working towards the same goals. 

External Stressors Aren’t Going Anywhere

While many positive factors lead to people being happier in the workplace, it isn’t all sunshine and happiness. For example, 33% of employees had stress and factors in their personal lives that made it harder for them to do their work. 

This increased by 7% from 2021 and is a wake-up call that, just because the worst of the lockdowns and restrictions with the pandemic is over, it has still had a lasting impact on people’s mental health and increased financial pressures.

How Location Flexibility Impacts Employees

There are many benefits (as well as some cons) to providing employees with location flexibility. Such as:

• Reducing burnout: Only 14% of team members with some flexibility exhibited burnout symptoms. That number more than doubled to 36% for employees with no flexibility.

However, one of the most significant factors contributing to burnout for remote and hybrid workers is the number of meetings per week, with around 8 hours per week. Meanwhile, office-only workers have about 5 hours per week of meetings.

Atlassian found that spending more time in meetings presents a significantly higher risk of burnout. For example, the report found that 23% of people with up to 15 hours of meetings per week experience one or more signs of burnout. That jumps to 31% for people with over 20 hours per week.

• Fostering a positive outlook on the organisation culture: 83% of workers with some flexibility believed their organisation had a great culture, compared to less than half (47%) of those without flexibility.
• Consider Their Team To Embrace Innovation: 71% of workers with some flexibility believed their team was innovative, compared to only 57% with no flexibility.

While there are significant benefits to offering location flexibility – the grass isn’t always greener. Some challenges come along with it—the biggest being impostor syndrome.

The Effects Of Innovation On Imposter Syndrome

What exactly is imposter syndrome? Wikipedia defines it as “a psychological occurrence in which an individual doubts their skills, talents, or accomplishments and has a persistent internalised fear of being exposed as a fraud.”

Sound familiar? Well, you’re not alone.

42% of employees exhibit some symptoms of imposter syndrome, an increase from 30% of employees working in an office. 

It may be surprising that people who are part of an innovative team are likely to exhibit higher signs of imposter syndrome.

37% of employees on highly innovative teams said they experience one or more signs of imposter syndrome, which dropped to just 24% on less innovative teams.

“I still have a little impostor syndrome… It doesn’t go away, that feeling that you shouldn’t take me that seriously. What do I know? I share that with you because we all have doubts in our abilities, about our power and what that power is.” – Michelle Obama.

How To Combat Imposter Syndrome

As a leader, how do you prevent imposter syndrome from occurring? Sometimes the most straightforward response is often the best. 

A simple “thank you” goes a long way.  

Atlassian found that psychological safety also increased for team employees who regularly expressed appreciation and encouragement, which is one of the best ways to fight against imposter syndrome.

“Not getting recognition makes me feel bad enough that I would just start looking for a different job [if I didn’t get it].” – Research participant

 Making employees feel appreciated and recognised for their efforts and achievements creates a flow-on effect that leads to them having a more positive view of your culture and increases their desire to stay at the company for the long term.

The following is an excerpt from the chapter: THE IMPOSTER SYNDROME (THE ULTIMATE REASON TO FAKE IT) taken from my book – JUST ROCK IT! by Sonia McDonald.

When you experience a meteoric rise (or even a small, incremental rise over time) toward success, you really do sometimes need to pinch yourself to make sure it’s actually happening.

And then, when you confirm that it’s indeed happening, you might possibly feel like you don’t deserve to be there—that you’re an imposter.

– – –

Have you ever felt the unease brought on by Imposter Syndrome? Or, if you do feel it, maybe you haven’t had a name for it until now. Here are some clues that Imposter Syndrome has meddled its way into your conscience:

1. You work hard. Overly hard. (So much so that you’re trying to squash all feelings of inadequacy and prove your worth.)

 2. You ask for validation all the time, from friends, family, your boss, co-workers—whomever you think needs to approve your work.

3. You procrastinate because you wonder if you’re really qualified to complete a major task (Example: “I have to give a presentation at the company annual meeting… Whaaat?” And then you put off writing your speech because you’re not sure you deserve to be the one to actually do it.)

How To Create A High-Performing Team

Atlassian has unlocked the secret to building high-performing teams full of rockstar employees that are happy with their job and don’t plan to resign anytime soon!

It all comes down to meeting the needs of four different things. They are alignment, cohesion, psychological safety, and potential for innovation.

But what exactly does this mean for leaders? And how can you implement it practically in your workplace?

Let’s take a further look…

1.Alignment

Alignment involves defining team roles and communicating them clearly while linking individual employees’ work with the team’s objectives to give it more meaning.

2.Cohesion

A cohesive team shares a common purpose and focus while helping each other when needed. It also means concentrating on the task at hand to get things done while encouraging each other to bring out their true potential and perform at an optimum level.

3.Psychological safety

I recently talked about the importance of psychological safety in the workplace. It means that, amongst other things, employees need to believe that they can speak up and that their ideas and point of view will be heard and respected.  

They also need to feel that they can express themselves, actively participate in decision-making and trust their leaders that they are recognised, included, respected, and valued, not only as employees but as people.

4.Potential for innovation

In a fast-paced, changing world, being an innovative company is now a prerequisite for many employees. Having potential for innovation means that team members have the right mix of skills for their team, have confidence, are allowed to try new things and ask questions and can be part of the process to help develop and implement new ideas in the workplace.

Key Takeaways For Leaders

Today more than ever, many organisations continue to struggle with flexibility, employee wellbeing, and innovation. Luckily the report has identified some practical ways to overcome these challenges.

They include to:

• Promote psychological safety:

Encourage employees to speak up and feel comfortable by implementing policies and procedures that protect them from retaliation and promote an environment of trust.

• Embrace flexibility:

Give employees the autonomy to work when and where they feel most productive, either from home, the office, or a combination of both, while trusting them to get their work done.  

Also, if practical, offer them the flexibility to live in a different city or state. Finally, ensure all tasks, expectations and goals are clearly outlined and communicated.

• Reduce impostor syndrome:

Ensure employees feel appreciated and valued for their work, and provide opportunities for them to share their expertise and knowledge. Also, encourage them and provide timely feedback on their work. 

Finally, it is important to acknowledge each member of the team’s contribution any time you celebrate team achievements. What they say is true; a simple thank you goes a long way.

• Prevent burnout:

Ensure employees have a good work/life balance by promoting flexible working arrangements and providing support when needed. Also, reduce the number of weekly meetings – especially for remote and hybrid staff.

By following these Atlassian-approved tips, you’ll be well on your way to building a high-performing team!

Are you looking to inspire courageous leadership at your organisation? Book Sonia for your next workshop, event, or conference. Each keynote is customised to the unique needs of your organisation, helps your leaders to unlock their full potential and equips them with all the knowledge, skills, and motivation to achieve it. Find out more today.

By Sonia McDonald – CEO Of LeadershipHQ And McDonald Inc. Leadership Coach, Global Keynote Speaker, Entrepreneur, CEO And Award Winning Author.

Sonia is passionate about her voice. When Sonia speaks, everyone in the room feels like she is having a conversation with them as her audience will feel as if they are the only one in the room. She speaks from the heart. She is brave. She wants everyone to be brave. She is an impactful and motivational leadership expert and speaker that creates a life-changing experience. People call Sonia sassy, inspirational, real and a speaker who leaves a lasting impression. Her high-energy, authenticity and humour combined with actionable and practical advice, empowers her audience and provides them with great drive and confidence to take courageous actions and inspire great leadership in all aspects of their lives.

Sonia also is founder of LeadershipHQ and McDonald Inc. and is also a renowned and award-winning author, having written several of her own books, Leadership Attitude, Just Rock It! and First Comes Courage as well as being a regular contributor in The Australian, HRD Magazine, Smart Healthy Women and Women’s Business Media. She was named as one of the Top 250 Influential Women in the world as well as Top 100 Australian Entrepreneurs by Richtopia.

Through her leadership advisory and coaching work at LeadershipHQ, and founding the Outstanding Leadership Awards, Sonia is internationally recognised as an expert in leadership and culture, organisational development, neuroscience, kindness, and courage.

Sonia is also a full-time single parent and has a passion for women in business and teenage mental health. Sonia travels and speaks across Australia and Globe, and she is on a mission to building a world of great leaders and leadership.