'Mortality cues can increase anxiety and make employees less engaged at work', researcher says
New research from the University of Western Australia (UWA) has looked at how business leaders are affected by ‘mortality cues’ both during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, such as the death of a coworker, relative or loved one.
It found that some leaders would go on to undertake unethical practices, while others would develop a more selfless and caring attitude.
Researchers used the context of the COVID pandemic where everyone was exposed to news of death or received news of family members or loved ones who were ill or died from COVID-19, said Professor Mayowa Babalola, Stan Perron Chair in Business Ethics at the UWA Business School and co-lead author of the paper.
“These are mortality cues, they bring back the reminder of death,” he told HRD Australia.
“On the one hand, we found that when confronted with mortality cues, some leaders experienced death anxiety. This is fear and displeasure about the prospect of dying and that really increases the extent to which they will engage in unethical behaviour for their own self-serving purpose.”
Unethical or caring behaviours by leadership
Some of those unethical behaviours included cutting corners at work, taking credit for other people's work – behaviours that violate organisational policy and societal norms, Babalola said.
On the other hand, mortality cues could also drive leaders to reflect on the essence of death, Babalola said.
“There’s that reflection pathway,” he said. “And so you can think about that reflection as the positive aspect of death awareness, where people have motivation to help. They put their own life in perspective, they want to have increased connections with others, they start thinking about concerns for legacy. And this really motivates them to prioritise their followers and the broader community.
“We measure this using servant leadership – it is a follower or employee-first approach to leadership where leaders genuinely care about their employees and their contribution to the broader society.”
Leadership support
Babalola explained how the research findings could help leaders in the workplace.
“Even beyond COVID-19, mortality cues are always present,” he said. “So I think that we need to take the lessons from during COVID and apply it as we move forward in helping leaders and employees cope with mortality within the workplace.
“Research suggests that mortality cues can increase anxiety and that can make employees become less engaged at work. So if they rely on the leaders for support, and their leader is also experiencing the same thing, perhaps we need to invest more in helping the leaders as well.”
Psychological capital and mortality cues
What differentiates leaders who engage in unethical behaviours from those who have a more empathetic reaction to mortality cues is their psychological capital, Babalola explained.
“This is a combination of hope, optimism, resilience and self-efficacy,” he said. “These people typically tend to put things in perspective, they're able to stay calm in the face of challenges. And as a result, they're more likely to view mortality cues from a reflective perspective. And as a result, they engage in positive leadership behaviour.
“Those who are low in psychological capital tend to be scared, they're not able to manage their emotions properly, they’re not resilient, they don't have a positive outlook more generally. And when these people experienced mortality cues, they're more likely to have severe death anxiety that makes them engage in unethical conduct just to self-protect themselves.”
What HR should do: compassionate leave
The first thing HR teams should do is rethink the type of leave given to leaders and employees, Babalola said. Especially when they are faced with mortality cues such as a loved one who has died or is battling a terminal illness.
“Compassionate leave tends to be, depending on the organisation, a week in the year,” he said. “So I think organisations need to really provide opportunities for employees to take a break, particularly when they're facing severe mortality cues. And that leave needs to be paid.
“Employees and leaders need to be supported. They need to feel that the organisation genuinely cares about them, especially when they lose their loved ones or are faced with death reminders such as disasters in the community [or] bushfires.”
Babalola went on to say, “there needs to be more open conversation around the issues of death and dying within the workplace”.
And this could be done using symbols, he said.
“Research has shown that symbols can be a very good way to influence your workplace culture,” Babalola said. “For instance, imagine a quote or a symbol that says, ‘Imagine if this was your last day at work, what would you do differently?’ Little things like that – quotes, symbols, artworks – that can help people become more empathetic and particularly more compassionate towards all the people at work.”
What HR should do: training leaders
Further, HR teams should look at the way leaders are trained.
“In leadership development sessions, we typically focus on competencies, contributions to the bottom line, which is great. But I also think that it's important that leaders are offered the opportunity to reflect on the idea of death,” Babalola said.
This could mean having leaders reflect on the legacy they would like to leave in the future, he added.
Another suggestion is to invest in training in psychological capital, particularly for employees whose jobs expose them to mortality cues, Babalola said. For example, those in health care, rescue operations or the mining sector.
“This training helps boost people's self-efficacy, the feeling of hope optimism and resilience,” he said.
“And it can be very helpful when people are exposed to daily mortality cues. And in doing that, organisations can get the best of that reminder and then mitigate the negative impact on people's working life.”
