Addressing Mental Health through COVID-19
Much has been said about the psychological impact of COVID-19 on employees mental health, but how can employers address it?
Encouraging resilience, adaptability and collaboration should be key priorities for avoiding the decline in employee mental health. A recent report by the World Health Organisation (WHO), Mental health and psychosocial considerations during the COVID-19 outbreak, highlights the negative impacts of isolation can have on our mental health such as a heightened state of stress, anxiety, anger and agitation.
So how to improve this?
Be supportive and Inclusive
Leaders need to bring out the best in their employees by nurturing relationships. Keep communication lines open with your team members and manage your delivery to reassure staff.
Inject some social time (virtually)
Team leaders should think of ways to use digital technology to inject a fun, social element into the working week. This is important to maintain connection and cohesiveness and ensure that colleagues don’t feel as though they’ve lost touch.
Be adaptable and accommodating
Allowing your staff to work alternative hours, or even a condensed working week, could help them eliminate a few of their additional stresses in the current situation.
Set non-work-related goals
Action items which are not directly linked to the usual work-related goals and priorities – not only to promote better mental wellbeing now, but also to encourage a healthier work-life balance in the long term, which could improve productivity.
Offer a varied routine
Try to shift your management style to ensure everyone in your team has variation throughout their working week. This is an ideal time to focus on professional development by giving people time to collaborate with others on new projects.
Promote organisational resources (if available)
Remind your employees of the resources that they might have access to as part of their employment, such as counsellors or a support hotline. This approach will help to ensure staff have the means of keeping on top of their mental health now and through the transition period back to the office.
While it’s always necessary to maintain balance, and a sense of autonomy, implementing an employee wellbeing strategy during this time could help your team keep up productivity and position them well to bounce back. For more information on improving your staff wellbeing, or implementing technology that can aid this process book a demo.
