Although “hey hanging” in the workplace seems harmless on the surface, it can have negative repercussions… [+] The impact on employee mental health and morale.
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Recently, the “hay hanging” epidemic has hit the media with a flurry of articles about what it means, why it happens, and how disrespectful it is. I published an article on Forbes.com, which led to an interview in the Wall Street Journal and an appearance on CBS News. I was surprised that some media outlets treated the subject humorously, without understanding the seriousness of how this type of asynchronous communication negatively impacts employees' mental health and exacerbates an already stressful, chaotic, and disorganized workplace.
The problem of shortcuts in communication
Just as the vague phrase “we need to talk” can make a spouse feel anxious and wreak havoc in a marriage, the three letter word “hey” highlights worst case scenarios and strikes fear in the hearts of employees. Why? Because that communication shortcut triggers the 11 letter word “uncertainty.” And uncertainty triggers the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight or stress response). And the negative effects of stress impact mental health, work performance, and morale.
As a marriage counselor, I've found that these shortened ways of communicating (which are often ultimately not serious) can have a detrimental effect on both intimate and professional relationships. Nothing is more frightening than losing stability in a marriage or job, especially when it's already unstable.
The “hay hang” is just one example of how communication shortcuts, even if well-intentioned, can be misunderstood. Employees jump to potentially threatening conclusions about what their managers or coworkers are thinking or intending. Additionally, remote or hybrid work can leave you unsure whether your coworkers are at your workstation or somewhere else.
“In a physical office environment, it may be easier to send a quick message in Slack or Teams than to walk up to a colleague's desk,” says Brenda Pohlman, vice president and practice leader at Workhuman. “In these cases, sending a quick 'hello' to grab their attention may seem like a pretty harmless thing to do. But if an employee doesn't know the reason for the contact, it can cause serious anxiety, especially if it's their manager or someone in a position of authority who is reaching out. You don't want people to think they've done something wrong or made a mistake.”
Unspoken workplace rules lead to poor communication and disconnects between employees, affecting engagement, performance, and morale. Poor communication can perpetuate an unpredictable and sometimes harmful workplace culture because:
It activates the sympathetic nervous system (stress or fear response). It lacks overall context and increases misunderstandings and disconnects between colleagues. It wastes valuable time and reduces productivity. It spreads tension between team members and reduces group morale. It exacerbates already-existing subterfuge and paranoia over the employer's quiet ploys such as “quiet cuts.”
The psychology behind workplace uncertainty
Poor communication within organizations is often due to a lack of fear management, and it is important for managers to consider the psychological safety of their employees and how their mental health impacts the company's bottom line.
The human mind is like Velcro in the negative and Teflon in the positive. The inevitable uncertainty of work and life triggers an immediate fight-or-flight response. Will my boss appreciate my work? Will I get the position? Will my coworkers like my presentation? Our survival brain is constantly updating our world, determining what is safe and what is not. Because we are hardwired to overestimate threats and underestimate our ability to deal with them, we will do almost anything for certainty.
The human brain likes to know the outcome in some way to reduce tension. If you don't know what's going to happen next, you can't protect yourself from danger. Because we hate uncertainty, our brains make up different, unverified stories hundreds of times a day, because uncertainty equals danger. Your coworker doesn't reply to your text message. Your boss frowns and speaks in a certain tone. You're not a finalist for the position. You assume the worst, take threats too personally, and jump to conclusions.
Scientists report that living with job uncertainty takes a greater toll on health than actually losing one's job, making people more susceptible to illness and exacerbating existing chronic conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and depression. Studies have shown that employees who live with job uncertainty have poorer overall health and are more likely to be depressed than employees who actually lose their jobs. Studies also show that uncertainty is more stressful than anticipating inevitable pain. British researchers found that study participants who knew for sure they would receive a painful electric shock were calmer and less agitated than participants who were told there was only a 50% chance of receiving an electric shock.
Increase “tolerance for uncertainty”
If uncertainty is not accepted, it feeds on fear, and we resist the situation, fighting ourselves instead of facing it. The decision to embrace or resist uncertainty is a difficult one, and counterintuitive. Author Eckhart Tolle states, “If uncertainty is not accepted, it transforms into fear. If it is fully embraced, it transforms into increased energy, attention, and creativity.”
Research shows that the ability to accept uncertainty at work reduces stress and brings peace of mind. The best defense against communication gaps and uncertainty at work is to manage work stress by increasing your “uncertainty tolerance.”
Your mindset during times of uncertainty is your most powerful ally. It's the only thing you can control in a situation that is beyond your control. Uncertainty is scary, but fear, panic, and worry only rub salt in the wound and increase stress even more. Changing your perspective and reminding yourself that the unknown holds many gifts, many good outcomes as well as bad, can be the catalyst for change. This restructuring can increase your tolerance for uncertainty, ease the tension of waiting, and balance your brain's ability to predict good and bad outcomes more evenly.
