What are the 5 ways to support your employees' Mental Health during the crisis?
The covid-19 pandemic has affected us on so many levels, starting from our economic situation, purchasing power, professional career, personal and professional plans….
But it mostly impacted our physical and mental health. During the last 6 months of this year, many of us felt anxiousness, sadness, sleeping troubles or even depression.
Many countries registered spikes in term of domestic violence, substances use issues, PTSD and depression. A survey lead by the mental health provider Ginger showed that 69% of employees affirmed that coronavirus era is the most difficult and stressful period of their career.
88% of them declared that they had felt moderate to extreme stress over the past 6 months.
Consequently, we can say that this pandemic has strongly impact our professional and daily life as we know it and it is carrying its weight on all of us.
And while this situation may look pretty much tough on employees it is a prefect occasion for leaders to demonstrate their commitment to their stuff wellbeing and mental health.
So here are five ways to help employers support their employees during the pandemic and beyond.
Double down on communication.
Being present for your employees during time of crisis and communicating clearly with them about the mental health and well being resources available for them is a more than crucial.
In fact, doing so and showing employees empathy and understanding will not only affect their overall wellbeing, loyalty and performance but it will affect your company long term health and strength.
Team managers, leader or HR specialists need to communicate daily about the mental health supports and resources, covered in employees’ benefits plans. This includes counselors they can call, stress management tools, assistance programs and meditation or sport courses available for them.
The several challenges employees faced during this pandemic wont necessarily end when this crisis finishes, that’s why it’s essential to carry on communicating about mental wellbeing during and beyond the pandemic.
Take the chance to reduce the stigma.
Fear of stigmas, of being judged or misunderstood, always block employees from getting the help they need.
Mental health issues may not be the easiest subjects to initiate, but if you start the conversation you can reduce the stigma impact while educating your people.
Hence use employee’s wellness programs to provide the adequate resources for self-care and self-help.
You can start virtual therapeutic sessions by hiring a therapist or a psychologist who will help your stuff recognize symptoms, know their issues and find solution to improve their mental health.
Utilize technology to provide mental health tools and resources.
Technology may be your greatest alley during these tough times. While working from home employees are using collaboration tools like Trello, slack , Gmail…and video conferences to discuss work with their team members and maintain relationships while telecommuting.
This procedure helps to ensure a good balance between personal and professional life while ensuring employees wellbeing.
In fact, 20% of working adults affirm that they’re suffering from some mental illness but many of them are not sure if their company offers mental health support or resources.
Since that remote work have became the new standard, now it is the right time to use technology to share mental health programs liked free meditation platforms, stress management courses and available counselors on call.
Show empathy and leadership.
Employees are feeling more than ever high levels of stress and uncertainty about their job, financial situation, health and professional path.
Leaders who are able to show their empathy and caring about individual employees while providing mental health assistance, can lift their spirit and motivate them.
This crisis is the perfect opportunity for managers to take extra miles toward approaching their teams. They can proceed with daily check, host video calls to keep up with employee mood and even talk about their overall wellbeing.
Beside ensuring a good performance level in term of work, managers need to remind their teams to take mental and physical breaks, meditate, exercise and participate in extra activities in order to reduce stress and improve their productivity.
Prioritize well-being in your benefits plan.
After all what happened during this year, companies should now prioritize more than ever the entire wellbeing of their stuff including financial, physical and mental health all year round.
This procedure should be the norm, not an exception used only during crisis. Hence, companies should incorporate these mental health programs and resources into the benefits programs to show that they care for their workforces all the year.
High level a stress increases the doctor’s visit which rises the healthcare costs for employers. So, by making the overall wellbeing of employees a top matter, leaders will ensure that their organization will grow healthier and more united after the crisis.
During uncertain times, employers need to prioritize their individual workers, physical and mental wellbeing in order to carry an empathic work culture and a healthy working office life.
Discover all our career tips and related article on our blog for headhunters and job seekers.
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