What You Can Do When The Employees Are Not OK

New research measuring the emotional impact of the pandemic has shown continued mental and psychological fatigue over time. In a survey of over 2,000 US-based employees, over two-thirds reported observable clinical levels of anxiety and depression (SilverCloud Health 2021 Employee Mental Health and Wellbeing Checkup; https://www.silvercloudhealth.com/us/landing-page/employer-mentalhealth-survey). A study in the UK by Lime Group found that only 84% of employees did not believe their mental health needs were supported by the workplace. The same 84% of employees reported they were rarely sincere when telling others they feel “ok” or “fine”. Similar findings have shown across other studies. The trend is rather clear, indicating that a) employees in the aggregate continue to struggle emotionally and psychologically, b) they are not comfortable sharing such with employers, and c) there is a lack of mental health resources (or perception of such) across many organizations.

Despite many challenges posed by the ongoing pandemic, here are a few suggestions organizations can consider towards promoting wellbeing in the workplace

Workplace well-being is not a linear process

In our consultation work with corporations, one of the most frequent mistakes we see when they want to build more resilient cultures is the erroneous assumption that mental wellbeing just keeps improving. We know from decades of research that mental illness and overall coping are not linear processes. All of us, to differing degrees, will have peaks and valleys in our coping responses and thriving throughout the lifespan. Hopefully, over time that pattern trends up as we go forward, but it is not a linear direct progression. Similarly, at the workplace, both the individual (employee) and aggregate (corporate culture) levels show similar ups and downs over time. A fall back is not a defeat, nor is it even a negative thing in the long-term. It is an opportunity to develop and demonstrate resilience. The break down is often precursor to the build-up. We get strong not by never falling, we get strong by getting back up when we do fall. Many corporate wellbeing initiatives would benefit from adopting this ethos.

Focused self-care initiatives 

Self-care initiatives have been a growing trend across many organizations since the onset of the pandemic. That is and remains a welcome development, but it comes with one major problem – many of these initiatives were band-aids thrown at the problem with no real focus on the specific concerns that employees were having at a given organization. Additionally, many of these included educational and group exercises that increased net stress to employees because they had one more “to do” added to their list. These gestures can often land flat if not offered along with other real-world impacts, such as reduction in hours, allowing real time off (see below), and directly addressing ancillary stressors that are not directly work related but still create major impact (i.e., child care, elder care, tutoring for school aged kids, other supports, etc.). These initiatives should focus on what matters to employees in a way that eases their stress level while not adding to it with simply more meetings and trainings to attend, allowing them to self-disclose without overly pressuring them to do so, and creating a culture of genuine care beyond just  surface gestures.

Communicate

Now more than ever employees need leadership, and leadership starts with effective communication. Such should be bi-directional. Leaders should clearly and frequently communicate to their employees how challenges in the workplace are being navigated, what resources are being offered or developed, and that larger strategy is in place to address the impacts of the pandemic over time. Simultaneously, they must be open to communication coming from the other direction, from employees, about the issues and pain points that they are experiencing. In doing so, leaders can help employees feel heard and understood, while also benefiting from critical insights that employees can share.

Support in a way that matters 

Within the past year a number of companies such as LinkedIn, Basecamp, Deloitte, Bumble, Hootsuite and Nike gave their employees “recharge breaks”, typically consisting of paid leave from a couple of days to a week or longer. In many organizations, due to internal and/or external pressures to succeed, it can be very difficult for employees to selectively take the time away that they need to recharge emotionally. As such, sometimes leaders must have an approach not unlike military commanders operating at the front line when they must “order” some soldiers to the rear lines for rest and relaxation. While this may not be feasible for all organizations, there are still other gestures that can be offered to help employees feel supported and emotionally lifted up. At my organization R3 Continuum, on a single Tuesday in the middle of the pandemic, we sent pizzas to every employee of the company. At another time we offered subscription services to Tinker Crate to any employee with children, or any other who was interested. These are small gestures, but they go a long way.

Digital Wellbeing tools 

Providing access to a mix of digital online and in-person resources to help enhance emotional coping goes a long way towards increasing coping and resilience, but also increasing morale and perceptions of feeling supported. Online resources can be self-paced modular trainings on various mental wellbeing topics, or online sessions either individually or in group format. As noted above, to avoid adding yet another stressor to the growing list for employees it’s important to allow these to be self-selective. Forced self-help activities are rarely effective as they require buy-in by the person who must be ready to make changes for the better.

The above suggestions are certainly not exhaustive, but they will help your organization avoid some of the most common pitfalls and missteps we have observed consulting with companies on risk issues, performance thriving and resilience over the past 20 years.

By George L. Vergolias, PsyD

A forensic psychologist and certified threat manager, George is the Medical Director for R3 Continuum. He is an internationally recognized expert in violence risk assessment, threat management, and employee absence management. George is also President and founder of TelePsych Supports, a telemental health company that provides threat assessment and risk management solutions to hospitals, allied health clinics, and schools.

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