Whether they are balancing remote work with childcare, caring for the infirm, or completely alone and feeling like they are a living enactment of Home Alone 4, your employees’ mental wellness could be suffering. It goes without saying that a significant number of employees have to deal with new emotional and psychological pressures. For some, working remotely has elevated the intensity of uncomfortable or even abusive challenges lurking on the home front. The difficulty with mental health is that its state is not always readily apparent. Yet left to degenerate, mental health can adversely affect your team’s productivity.
When working with a remote team it is difficult to notice non-verbal cues and gauge individual moods. There may be a few things to consider.
Here for You
It cannot be over-emphasised: when your employees are working from home, it’s crucial to keep in touch—especially during these challenging times. Whether you set up daily 1:1 calls or weekly team meetings, utilise teleconference tools to keep in touch with your employees regularly. By frequently checking in with them, you can see how your employees are doing and whether they’re facing any roadblocks. Encourage your employees to come to you if they’re struggling and make sure they know that you’re there to support them.
Mysteries are Stressful, Be Transparent
Due to COVID-19’s impact on economies, many companies have had to exercise belt tightening strategies, which for many include a material reduction in the size of their workforces. With these major changes, employees could be feeling an increased sense of instability. How is your company doing, what areas are you struggling in, and what are you doing to improve going forward? As you move forward and start to rebuild your company, it’s crucial to fuel your employees’ faith in your organisation’s future. Do not just tell your employees, show them. Present data and charts during meetings to show your employees where you are and where you plan on going. When your company is doing well, make sure you celebrate those wins. Be transparent with your employees, to help them keep or regain confidence and stay sane.
Safety First
For those segments of the workforce that need to be in the office or are taking shifts to keep manufacturing plants going, employers need to make employee safety their utmost priority. From providing personal protective equipment, spacing out desks to sanitising workplaces and requiring employees to wear masks, there are several precautions companies need to follow to keep their employees safe. Additionally, to limit the spread of COVID-19 in the office in the case that an employee gets sick, some companies have created contact tracing policies. Many have found it wise to run monthly or more frequent Covid-19 tests for shift workers to keep alert to infection rates and enable early activation of other safety procedures such as quarantine, contact tracing and medical treatment.
By maintaining a safe working environment, you’ll ease the nerves of employees who return to the office so that they can focus on their work—and therefore, stay mentally healthy.
Virtual Check-Ups
Occasionally encourage team members to have their cameras on during virtual team meetings to help you see how they are doing. Look for the following signs:
- Lack of motivation
- Fatigue
- Irritability
- Uncharacteristic mistakes
- Inconsistent work output
- Emotional outbursts
- Higher absenteeism
- Withdrawal from others
- Not taking care of their appearance
- Forgetfulness and impaired focus
Virtual Therapy
Unchecked, these behaviours can lead to burnout – the overwhelming feeling of mental and physical exhaustion. Sometimes, all that is necessary is to talk to your employee reassuringly. Talk privately in a supportive way so they may feel at ease to speak freely. Suggest that you speak in an environment where they feel most comfortable, provide reassurance that the conversation will remain confidential, and ask simple, non-judgemental questions. Often it is the employees themselves who are best suited to identify the causes of – and solutions to – stressors at home or in the workplace. To be a great communicator, you need to be a great listener: allow them to explain how their problems are affecting them, the triggers that give rise to them, and how their performance may be impacted.
Consider Bringing in the Experts
Once the employee has disclosed their struggles, discuss possible solutions that could meet their needs and develop an action plan together. In addition, you should provide the different support services that are available to the employee. In some organisations internal or external counsellors can be enlisted for deeper, continued expert support. Alternatively suggest that they speak further with their primary care physician, who will be able to refer them to the appropriate supports. Reiterate that you are always available to talk and periodically check in on how the employee is managing.
The time you put in to check in on and take care of your employees’ mental health will be well rewarded by a mentally healthy workforce that stays productive during crises.
