We're all tired of the recession; however, according to the latest Towers Perrin Workplace Watch, employees especially are falling into recession fatigue. The study concludes that employees have the most negativity around potential career development opportunities.

Only fifty-seven percent of employees agree that their company offers opportunities for long-term professional development, a 16 percent drop since the beginning of 2009. Towers Perrin concludes that this drop is due to employees feeling less connected to the company they work for and also having less faith in leadership as a result of recessionary actions like layoffs and budget cuts.

Are the levels of engagement in your company falling as a result of this negative economic environment? Below are some ways leaders can combat fatigue:

• Let employees know when they are doing things that impact business results. Doing so helps them understand how their actions make a difference and, of course, makes them feel good. Consistently recognizing employees and sharing successes company-wide builds morale as well as spreads best practices.
• Openly communicate what your company thinks about professional development. Set expectations with employees in regards to how much growth they can look forward to and when. Even if it's not a reality right now, generating awareness will help ease employee's perspective about lack of growth opportunities.
• If your company has had to reduce or cut investments in continuing professional education or industry seminars and conferences at this time, communicating the why behind these actions will help employees see the reasoning and be more forgiving.

Focusing on managing employee expectations through communication and consistent acknowledgment will ease negativity and help rebuild trust as we work our way out of these trying times.