Employee fear: anxiety and phobias.

As a manager, how do you know if you have an employee suffering from anxiety in the workplace? Before digging into anxiety, it helps to understand fear. Fear is a natural emotion that all of us experience as humans. When we think about the word fear, we usually think about it in primal terms, an immediate threat of harm, fight, or flight from impending danger. The bear in the woods or lion in the plains of Africa chasing after you. In addition to primal fear, we all experience rational and irrational fear. Rational fear is based on something threatening or dangerous, such as seeing a car speed through a red light right towards you when crossing an intersection. Irrational fear is a fear where no danger exists, but the emotional response is minor or severe. The more severe irrational fears are anxiety and phobias.

Is there such a thing as workplace phobia and workplace anxiety? Yes, there is. Some top workplace phobias are atychiphobia, fear of failure; atelophobia, fear of imperfection, not being good enough or making mistakes; and glossophobia, fear of presenting. According to the National Alliance of Mental Illness, “anxiety disorders are the most common mental health concern in the United States. Over 40 million adults in the U.S. (19.1%) have an anxiety disorder.” The Anxiety Disorders Association of America Stress & Anxiety Disorders Survey, reports that fewer than 40% of employees who indicate they experience stress and anxiety at work speak to their supervisors about it. The top two reasons for not speaking to a supervisor are concern that a manager will interpret fear and anxiety as a lack of motivation to do the work and fear of being regarded as a weak employee.

Signs that an employee might be experiencing anxiety or a phobia.

A decline in performance, inability to complete projects, frequent absences from work, acting withdrawn in group discussions, and several other behaviors can be a signal that an employee is suffering from anxiety or a phobia. In these moments, it is always best to try to identify the behavior that seems problematic and lead with curiosity and not suspicion. Leading with open-ended questions is one approach that can open up dialogue to determine what the issue might be. For example, you might ask, “I notice you are having difficulty completing your projects in the timeframe needed. Do you have everything you need to complete the projects? What are the barriers you are facing when working on projects?”

How to signal to an employee that you are available to help.

As a manager, you cannot ask an employee to reveal their health status, but you can create the space for dialogue where you signal to your team through communication that wellness is a priority. In addition, you can share information about the resources within your organization or institution that are available to employees. You can also create communication feedback loops with your employees to ensure they have the tools and training necessary to succeed.

Are you an employee experiencing anxiety or a phobia?

Depending on the severity of what you are experiencing, seek out a professional health practitioner to diagnose your medical issue. If you feel safe opening up a conversation with your manager, share the limiting factors you are experiencing. Take time to think about the following questions: Can you identify the root cause of your anxiety or phobia? How does it affect your health? Why don’t you feel in control?

Focus on your mindset. Rethink the approach to the challenge that you are facing. What is your internal narrative about how you are experiencing the emotion of fear? Then, flip the script; what does success look like? If you don’t confront your fear, how will you be able to befriend your fear? Research has shown that “…people with a fixed mindset towards anxiety tend to see it as a fundamental part of who they are, and something over which they have no control; whereas those with a growth mindset tend to see it as a temporary (albeit unpleasant) emotion that they can cope with.”

So here is what a fixed mindset might look like. You are given a new project at work and panic. This results in anxiety about whether you can perform at the level of service excellence your manager requires. Your internal dialogue might be, “I don’t have the skills needed to complete this project at the level required for the final product.” What might be fueling your fear is that your last project was not completed on time because you had the same reaction, and your manager asked another team member to help finalize the work product. You now have so much anxiety you do not know where to start and find yourself procrastinating.

Flip your thinking and move to a growth mindset. Ask yourself, “what skills or help do I need to complete this project at the level required for the final product?” This puts you in control of the outcome and moves you away from being the victim of your perceived circumstance. You now have a problem to solve, and you are not the problem. You can move into action and put a plan in place. One approach might be to seek out others who can assist with the skills you need to learn or to help with parts of the project. At last, you feel your anxiety lessen, and you can function at a much higher level that moves you to success.

I don’t subscribe to the statement, “feel the fear and do it anyway,” because that masks the underlying cause of your fear. My recalibration would be “feel the fear and create a plan to work on overcoming it.” I realize that does not sound as catchy. However, managing your fear is what gives you more confidence and breaks you free from self-doubt, anxiety, and low self-esteem, and puts you in control of how you show up in the world.