Employees are not happy with employers’ responses to their mental health issues since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and consequent lockdown. What are you doing to help employees manage their mental health as they work from home and some return to work?
More and more surveys are finding that we are in for a mental health crisis (if we aren’t in one already). This is the collateral damage of COVID-19.
Working from home, and now returning to work, have magnified the stress that the pandemic already presents. Not all employees are ready to get on a bus and get to work when a contagious virus is out there. Many employees, on the other hand, are experiencing severe isolation.
With employees stuck between a rock and a hard place, how can they manage their mental health? And how can HR and organizations help?
Employee Mental Health During COVID-19: Then and Now
Then
McKinsey’s survey Opens a new window of 1,000+ respondents in the U.S., running from March 27–29, 2020, found that 63% felt depressed, anxious, or both in the previous week.
Meanwhile, in the U.K., an overwhelming 69% of managers were found to be failing employee’s mental health needs (according to a survey of 1,000+ professionals).Opens a new window
Unfortunately, not much has changed since. New fears and stressors have added to employees’ mental health troubles.
More recently
A recently published reportOpens a new window by popular mindfulness app Headspace still finds a massive gap between employees’ expectations of mental health support from their employers and the actual provisions available. A quick search of the term “employee mental health†on Twitter will confirm this finding.
A CIPD surveyOpens a new window of 1,001 respondents in the U.K. revealed that 44% of respondents are anxious about returning to work. 62% of those with an underlying health condition reported anxiety about returning to work. 52% of employees in London reported anxiety about the commute to work.
In another surveyOpens a new window , 25% of 1,000 respondents said their employer was likely to develop a negative image of them if they chose not to go back to work. Another 40% said they weren’t sure how their image would be affected. This can place quite a burden on employees’ mental health.
How can HR play a role in helping their remote employees – forced into working from home with fears of job loss and the like – navigate their mental health in these difficult times?
Learn More: How to Design an Employee Wellness Program Amid COVID-19: 4 Steps to a Sustainable Program
Action Points for HR to Help Employees With Their Mental Health
Every stakeholder – policymakers, local governments, non-profits, employers, communities, etc. – must come together at the time of a crisis to bring about positive change. The COVID-19 situation demands proactive action from HR (in addition to COVID-19-related HR policies) to maintain employee’s mental wellness.
Before creating a list of resources that employees can access (and this is definitely helpful), answering these questions can help you get started on supporting employee mental health at work:
- Have you created a comfortable environment in which employees can discuss mental health issues with managers or HR while they work remotely or before they return to work?
- Is there space to anonymously share experiences, so everyone knows they’re not alone?
- Have you devised a return-to-work plan that incorporates managing the anxieties of employees who are returning to work?
- Have you given employees other options in case they are not comfortable returning to work?
- Have you trained employees to be empathetic to their colleagues’ anxieties and stresses?
Then, start by offering the following options to demonstrate support.
1. Normalize taking a mental health day off
All benefits aside, sometimes all an employee needs is not to have to attend another virtual meeting, lunch and learn, happy hour, or answer another call or respond to another email. All they need is to switch off for a day, maybe two, to get that break and calm themselves down. When possible, adjust the company PTO policy to allow for an additional day or two. This is particularly important for employees with pre-existing mental health conditions.
2. Provide online access to mental health professionals
Telemedicine has already gained popularity in the face of COVID-19, with the Trump administration recently launching a toolkitOpens a new window for broader telemedicine coverage. Employers can also provide employees access to much-needed support from the safety of their homes.
For example, HarleyTherapyOpens a new window is a telehealth platform for mental health, connecting U.K. citizens with care providers. As an employer, you could sponsor employee sessions or co-pay for treatment.
Spill Opens a new window is another useful tool – it conducts an employee survey to detect those who are vulnerable to mental health issues. Anyone who is struggling gets six therapy sessions, and your entire workforce has access to virtual therapy and well-being assistance at any time. To tackle the stresses of job loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Spill is offering a free session that you can access right here.Opens a new window
Learn More:Â What Employee Care Looks Like Amid a Global Pandemic
3. Take your employee assistance programs (EAPs) online
EAPs are a popular way to aid the physical and mental well-being of employees, giving them ready access to useful resources – such as counseling services, legal/financial assistance, and childcare. Typically, employers tie up with a third-party organization to provide certified EAPs.
Take a look at TalkspaceOpens a new window , an online therapy platform that also specializes in the digital EAP field. Talkspace’s digital EAP offering covers mental health, financial wellness (for those anxious about pay cuts/job loss), emergency support (for those living alone), and work-life planning (for those struggling to disconnect in a remote environment).
Minddistrict Opens a new window has a similar solution for digital EAP, covering 360-degree employee well-being.
4. Solidify work routines for those who need it the most
Though a lot of employees’ productivity has improved in the pandemic, the loss of workplace structure may have affected individuals who may rely on it to maintain positive mental health. It is advisable to create a group that enforces work hours, with buy-in from other employees. They could remind their peers of routine tasks, check in on them, and ensure that there is a structure in place even in a WFH environment.
This effort may reduce stress and establish a healthy working habit so that employees spend enough quality time with their families without worrying about work – or vice versa. Consider offering this facility is as a suggestion and not an arbitrary measure; else, it may heighten certain employees’ stress levels.
5. Articulate workplace return policies as clearly to quell employee anxieties
The return-to-work policy needs to be articulated, keeping in mind employee safety, physical and mental, so that if they absolutely must come back to work, they can return with a little less fear. The best move here would be to consider employees’ inputs on planning the return to work instead of enforcing it. When they are heard, they are more likely to want to find solutions to the situation.
Learn More: Why Are Millennials So Stressed at Work?
Take This Opportunity to Build an Open Forum on Mental Health
The current environment is not the time to be bashful about mental health issues. To eliminate any stigma, managers and C-level leaders can come forward to discuss their own experiences, sharing how the pandemic and ensuing events have impacted their stress levels. A “faux†image of resilience will only lead to employees sweeping their problems under the rug – and this could cause long-term challenges.
Even though some studies have found a marginal improvement in employee mental health during the pandemic, it would be a gross assumption to say that humanity is now used to working from home and living with the burden of stress from a pandemic and its collateral damage.
As a Metlife surveyOpens a new window says, “All the while, the stress of our current moment not only persists—but grows,†says a recent.
The sooner employers acknowledge the mental health challenges that accompany the upheaval this pandemic has caused, the easier it will be to get the workforce back into a more productive phase.
Have you discussed the issue of mental health with your workforce in the last few weeks? Tell us on FacebookOpens a new window , LinkedInOpens a new window , or TwitterOpens a new window . We would love to hear from you!
(Updated: Aug. 28, 2020)