What is a jolt and why it matters

Anthony Klotz: Jolted

Anthony Klotz is an organizational psychologist and Professor of Management at the UCL School of Management. He is the person who both predicted and coined the term “The Great Resignation,” and his groundbreaking research on quitting, work design, and employee performance has made him a leading voice on the future of work. He is the author of Jolted: Why We Quit, When to Stay, and Why It Matters (Amazon, Bookshop)*.

Most of us have attempted to support an employee dealing with a tough career moment. Not all the time, but certainly sometimes, we see those moments coming. When an employee is dealing with a big jolt – or about to – this conversation with Anthony will show you how to help.

Key Points

• Jolts have an outsized influence on people’s overall relationship with their work.
• Managers play a deciding role in how people respond to jolts and are in the best position to insulate the negative effects and amplify the positive effects.
• Managers can often anticipate and predict jolts to employees. The plans leaders have often become the jolts that others experience.
• If people can make sense of a jolting event, they are better able to deal with it constructively.
• The perception of how fair an event is and how fair the process was leading up to the event massively impacts how people perceive it.
• A clear explanation of why change is happening and what it means can substantially minimize the negative effects of career jolts.
• The tendency for organizations to delay bad news often is counterproductive to helping managers and employees navigate jolts.
• Partnership with others (managers, friends, family members) helps most of us better process what we might otherwise attempt to do alone.

Resources Mentioned

• Jolted: Why We Quit, When to Stay, and Why It Matters (Amazon, Bookshop)* by Anthony Klotz

Interview Notes

Download my interview notes in PDF format (free membership required).

Related Episodes

• Engaging People Through Change, with Cassandra Worthy (episode 571)
• How to Quit Bad Stuff Faster, with Annie Duke (episode 607)
• Stop Solving Your Team’s Problems, with Elizabeth Lotardo (episode 764)

Discover More

Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.