As we enter the third year of the pandemic, we have become somewhat accustomed to large-scale, business disruptions and changes.
New COVID-19 variants, fresh outbreaks, ongoing information overload, fake news around the pandemic, and changing regulations and requirements to protect the health and safety of the community are constantly upturning the ‘new normal’ and our sense of order.
For example, as fresh outbreaks occur, businesses and authorities are relooking working arrangements, from reinstating on-site operations when community cases are low, and reverting to work from home arrangements when outbreaks persist.
This state of constant change and upheaval is often cited as a major factor for psychological stress, which then impacts mental health.
Added to larger uncertainties beyond COVID-19, such as climate change, fluctuations in the economy, and geopolitical tensions across the globe, there are many reasons for us to feel stressed, fatigued, or even anxious going into the new year.
In fact, the recently published International SOS Risk Outlook 2021 revealed that one-third of Asian organisations expect mental health to be a major disruptor of productivity in the new year.
Additionally, close to half of Asian organisations (47 per cent) are challenged with having the adequate resources to deal with COVID-19. This is particularly worrying, as businesses that don’t have the adequate resources to cope with the pandemic are going to struggle to empower and support their employees’ mental or physical wellbeing.
The challenge of feeling ‘ready’
It is interesting to note that even after two years of living through the COVID-19 pandemic, organisations still feel ill-equipped to cope with the challenges it brings, and report that they do not have adequate resources to support employees.
In conversations with clients, some common areas in which they struggle to support their employees include:
- Knowing and understanding the workforce, and how they can be supported:
This results in managers or business leaders not having the confidence to approach these issues or furnish employees with the resources to weather these difficulties.
- Identifying areas of business operations that need to be relooked with a COVID-19 perspective:
Many areas of business operations have changed because of the pandemic, from the everyday things like working in the office and allowing employees to access secure systems remotely, or more complex issues like managing the travelling workforce, organising international business trips, or large-scale conferences and events.
It is clear to many business leaders that these existing plans need to be relooked to account for new risks, but they are often unaware of where to start, or how to communicate these changes, which further adds to the anxiety, or frustration, of employees.
- Anticipating future changes, and forward-planning for new risks:
Just as businesses need to make changes to current business operations, there are constant reminders from the authorities and health experts to stay mindful of the ever-changing nature of the pandemic and new threats that may arise.
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More so, as the pandemic wears on, other threats outside the medical perspective will arise, such as economic changes, civil unrest, and geopolitical tensions, all of which businesses need to prepare for. Without anticipating these changes, businesses will continue to feel inadequately equipped to support employees in the future.
Overcoming these changes, and building a future-ready workforce
Taking a step back, many of these issues stem from an inability to understand or know the workforce, and how to communicate and support them through the pandemic.
This has a ripple effect through the organisation, where businesses struggle to identify the right levers to pull when new issues arise, all whilst employees become more anxious and stressed about the changes around them.
To tackle these issues, International SOS has developed a few strategies to help organisations increase their focus on employee well-being, ensure open communication, and build a resilient workforce.
5 steps to building a resilient workforce
- Know your people:
Carry out emotional health or resilience surveys with tools that have been scientifically validated and can uncover individual pain points. This will provide insights into how your workforce is coping overall and provide a better understanding of the programmes needed to address specific issues.
Identify those who are more emotionally vulnerable and hence require more attention and assistance. Create a safe space for all, so that employees can share openly about their emotional health challenges without fear of discrimination.
It is also important to recognise that apart from stress, employees might be struggling with prolonged anxiety, or even depression, and understand how to assist employees at risk of these conditions.
- Provide emotional support:
Emotional support like remote confidential counselling and telehealth assistance by a team of dedicated experts are critical tools that organisations should utilise to support their people.
These resources offer a confidential route for employees to discuss their emotional health issues away from their direct managers and teams and seem professional assistance if necessary.
Organisations should establish these channels through HR or independent expert support, and these resources should be communicated widely and consistently so that employees are aware of these pathways for support.
Other broader skill sets such as problem-solving, coping with stress, or encouraging awareness and learning on managing stress and mental wellbeing are good to develop as we move towards a state of endemicity.
- Prioritise communication and open discourse around wellness issues:
Rampant misinformation or an infodemic will persist in 2022, and organisations that provide trusted information to employees will be able to combat feelings of distrust, paranoia, or anxiety.
Building an open environment and culture about overall wellbeing also helps destigmatise mental health concerns, and create a supportive workforce.
Communicate these channels widely and consistently so employees can seek support in a way that they are comfortable with. Drawing on professional expertise is also vital in ensuring that health care best practices are being applied, and responding to employees’ concerns and questions.
Partnering with experts like International SOS helps multinational organisations to monitor and support such programmes across multiple jurisdictions, or advise on threats to employee safety that lurk in the future.
- Stay protected from new or arising threats:
With well-designed communications plans and processes, it is much easier to disseminate information about new travel or on-site policies, and channels for the workforce to reach out for assistance, and stay protected from new or arising threats.
- Commitment at the senior management level:
Clearly with all the issues and threats that lie ahead, engaging the organisation to prioritise employee wellbeing is a massive task that will require commitment at the senior management level, especially in the C-suite.
We have noticed a trend of organisations creating a new role amongst top management to further engender change. The Chief Health Officer, or CHO, role helps organisations champion health issues, promote overall health and well-being in the organisation, and also ensure health regulatory and policy compliance at global, regional and local levels.
This role can also ensure that these priorities are reflected throughout the organisation, eradicate issues of stigmatisation about mental wellness, and promote a culture where employees’ wellbeing is a critical pillar of business operations.
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While this used to be more common amongst large organisations, it’s also something that small organisations should look into to promote the overall well-being of the workforce.
Doing our part to live safely with COVID-19
There’s no doubt that managing employee well-being is a gargantuan task that often requires a mindset shift amongst both employees and business leaders. Nonetheless, our experience has shown that a common starting point should always be building understanding and openness from both perspectives.
From an employees’ perspective, it’s often difficult to open up to management about mental or physical health issues, out of fear of stigmatisation or discrimination.
From a boss’s perspective, we must remember that these are unprecedented situations, and many senior executives will not have dealt with a long-drawn pandemic and its ripple effects before.
As such, staying open with each other, and communicating honestly about the struggles and how you can best receive support will engender productive discussions and a clear path forward for the organisation to embrace employee wellbeing, building a culture that places mental health as a core pillar of business resilience, and in the long run, foster an environment that builds workforce resilience, and the agility to thrive in the face of future threats or challenges.
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