What will be your strategy to comfort your employees' stress and anxiety on and after such a tough time period?

The global pandemic has impacted not only the physical health of people but their mental health as well. During this unprecedented time, your employees also had to go through a lot of grief. It creates a consequent negative impact on their emotional and behavioral well-being.

A third of Americans are showing signs of clinical anxiety or depression, the most definitive and alarming sign yet of the psychological toll exacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
washingtonpost.com

As a business leader or owner, you might provide enough facilities to your team members when you shifted them remotely for the coronavirus outbreak. It's again time to keep your personal emotions aside and manage your team to continue remotely or come back to their office desks.

Below, we reviewed 8 effective ways you can follow to take care of your Employee Mental Health. Let's start with this simple question-

This is Why You Should Care About Your Employee' Mental Health

Employees are the most valuable asset for any organization. Poor mental health and stress can hamper your business in many ways.

“American Companies Are Losing $1,685 Per Employee due to loss of productivity and absenteeism.”

Stress.org

For over one year we all are fighting against an unseen tiny creature. Everyone is stressed, depressed, even struggling to sleep through the night. Also, many of us have lost our beloved ones. It's not easy to forget everything like a nightmare and go back to normal life.

According to a survey of mental health provider Ginger – 69% of employees claimed that the coronavirus is the most stressful time of their career, and 88% said they had experienced moderate to extreme stress over the past four to six weeks.

If your employees have personal problems, it'll negatively affect their job performance, engagement, and communication with coworkers as well as business results. In this circumstance, it becomes more important to focus on your employee's mental health in the workplace.

How Managers Can Support Employee Mental Health in The Workplace

Mental health experts have already warned about the long-term mental health impact the coronavirus pandemic is going to leave on society.

Luckily, there are several ways to support your team's mental well-being.

Strong Leadership & Real-time communication
Modified Workplace Layouts
Mindful Office Protocols and Practices
Create a Flexible Work Schedule
Routine Check-in Conversations
Provide Loyal Support
Arrange Brainstorming Session
Motivate Employees to Stay Healthy

Here we discussed 8 ways that managers can play their part to cheer up their teams in this time of crisis. Let's get started.

1. Strong Leadership & Real-time Communication

strong-leadership-to-support-employees-mental-health

Nowadays we wake up every morning with the dilemma of what is happening at my employer; what is their next plan; what are the key things I need to be aware of; It's quite obvious, as human beings, we derive comfort from certainty. Employers can help with that by giving job assurance and regular updates of the company along with the future plan.

Communicate in a simple straightforward way
Avoid highly technical and legalistic
Acknowledge the uncertainty created by this unprecedented situation
Share your business plan to overcome this crisis
Encourage your employees to share reliable sources of information

So, communicate with your team members regularly even if the situation hasn’t changed- they’ll feel confident hearing from you.

2. Modified Workplace Layouts

Physical distancing helps limit the spread of COVID-19. It's essential to maintain the same adequate in the office environment too. Top management should rearrange the seating plan keeping a distance of at least six feet from each other.

modified-workplace-to-support-employees-mental-health

You can also renovate the office to keep your employees energized. Such as paint the place, add new office accessories, paintings with motivational quotes, etc. If possible you can rent a temporary place to extend your workplace where you can accommodate all the employees maintaining all the safety rules.

Remember, everyone is scared to get affected by the coronavirus. Only a secured workplace can calm their nerves down and make them productive. Continue some lockdown practices in your physical workplace also to stay safe. For example, conduct daily meetings or sessions through online tools like slack, zoom, etc even staying under a roof. But also make sure that physical distance does not harm your team collaboration.

3. Mindful Office Protocols and Practices

A concrete company policy provides stability and guidance to the employees. But due to the wake of the coronavirus pandemic companies also had to adjust their business strategies in terms of survival. HR leaders revised once their rules book to shift their office remotely.

Now while the teams are returning to the physical office management should reconsider the regular office protocols to cope up with the post-pandemic situation. As they have to protect the well-being of their team members and the company as a whole.

Make the most of your workforce adopting new COVID-19 office protocols:

Paid sick leaves for the employees who've been battling the consequences caused by the coronavirus
Remote work and telecommuting options for those with symptoms
Employee and visitor health pre-screening processes
Availability of all safety equipment e.g. masks, hand sanitizer, ppt, etc.
Compulsory of using personal hygiene materials
Increase the frequency of sterilizing workplace surfaces- stainless steel, glass, wood, fabric, leather, etc.
Limit the interaction in common places like the kitchen or meeting room.

Important to notice here, sudden changes and new desking policies may feel like inconveniences to employees. Explain the purpose of these changes and let them know you're conscious about their health and wellness.

Also read: How to Prevent Burnout in the Workplace: 10+ Proven Tips.

4. Create a Flexible Work Schedule

create-a-flexible-work-schedule-to-support-employees-mental-health

You can utilize a flexible work schedule policy to keep your employees stress-free. Let them set their arrival and departure time within the agreed limit (such as 40 hours in a week). However, ensure their presence in ‘”core hours”, e.g. 10 am-3 pm every day- because team collaboration is often essential to carry out the final output.

If possible divide the office into multiple shifts. One group will come 4 days a week, other will attend on alternate days. They can work remotely rest of the working days. Or allowing an extra off day can also work as a conciliation to boost up your fellow members.

5. Routine Check-in Conversations

One of the most practical ways that leaders can support employees impacted by Covid-19 is to conduct one-on-one routine semi-structured check-in conversations. In simple words, regularly ask them how they are or what they need. It reduces stress and people get the chance to open up themselves. Leaders also get a brief idea as suggestions and solutions come from the conversion process.

You can make a small set of questions to share during check-ins. Simple questions like-

How is it all going?
What types of challenges are you facing?
Is there anything I or a colleague can do to help you?

Regular day-to-day conversation helps employees to brief leaders about how things are going on and what they might need. On the other hand, it enables leaders to scan for signs of stress or declining employee mental health. So, they can outline some individual support plans for his/her team. Also, this open conversation strengthens the relationship between the manager and other team members.

6. Provide Loyal Support

Balancing between work-life and personal life becomes harder than ever. Continuous news updates, social posts from suffering patients or their family members, managing work alongside caring responsibilities- all create an overwhelming sense of uncertainty.

As a team leader or manager, it's your duty to keep your employees healthy, happy, and motivated. Stimulate their excitements and engage them in works according to their interest that aligns with the company goal as well.

An employee's motivation is a direct result of the sum of interactions with his or her manager.
Bob Nelson

Moreover, offices can pursue personal loans or financial support to those employees who are largely affected by this crisis. Run any charity program or use office funds to support these people getting out of this tough time.

7. Arrange Brainstorming Session

brainstorming-session-to-support-employees-mental-health

Everyone is morale down this time. Until you destruct them from their scarcity you can't make them fully productive. Arrange a growth hack session or any team learning session on the related topics once or twice a week. Also, make it mandatory for your fellow team members to attend these sessions and share ideas. Never shunt away any idea or suggestion no matter how silly they may sound.

It would keep them away from the current distressful situation at least for some time. Consequently, these efforts make them productive and bring them back into normal life.

8. Motivate Employees to Stay Healthy

Physical health is also connected to peoples' mental health. Since we are still in a global pandemic need to be health-conscious. And maintain all the persuasions we already used to. This is the time to reinforce healthy habits in the workplace too. Implement new practices within your team to keep them healthy, both mentally and physically.

Wash your hands frequently and sanitize them
Don't touch your face
Use a mask even if you're working alone
Sanitize yourself and your belongings after entering into office
Avoid physical touch, like handshakes
Sterilize the surface of any material while leaving it
Practice respiratory etiquette when you cough or sneeze
Drink enough water every day
Eat fresh and unprocessed foods

Also, describe the necessity of these safety adequates and the consequences of not following them. In fact, team members will more likely to adopt these habits if they see their leaders practicing indeed.

Also Read: Best Way to Evaluate Your Employee Performance: A Complete HR Guide.

How Can Poor Mental Health Affect Businesses & Their Employees

42% of employees calling in sick cite physical illness as a reason for their absence but in reality, they are dealing with a mental health issue. Employees' mental health problems in the workplace have significant consequences not only for individuals but also for the productivity of the business.

Positive and good mental health at work helps people cope with changing roles and responsibilities. They become more flexible and resilient to take on challenges. On the other hand, if someone is struggling with poor mental health at work, it'll negatively affect his/her job in many ways. This will break the workflow and all the related people will suffer as a result.

Poor mental health and stress have a negative impact on employees:

Job performance and productivity
Engagement with other’s work
Communication with coworkers
Physical capability and daily functioning

After the Covid-19 situation, things are getting more complex and employers are trying really hard to overcome them. However, supporting mental health in the post-pandemic workplace wouldn't be easy at all.

According to a report by Oracle, 76% of workers say their company should be doing more to support the mental health of their workforce. But the problem is many organizations want to build a healthy work culture but they don't know how to start. The points we've mentioned above will help you to get some good ideas indeed.

Many companies have taken significant action to support their employees mentally and emotionally. Richard Branson, for example, encourages businesses to take necessary actions on mental health issues in the workplace. He introduced an interactive workshop called MindCoach inside Virgin. Employees learn here stress-coping strategies, and all managers get training on how to support colleagues in need.

Besides, workplace health promotion programs have already proven to be successful is some extent. You can also arrange some events inside your work premises by combining mental and physical health interventions.

Taking Good Care of Employee Mental Health in The Workplace to Boost Up Their Morale

Within a short (not so short actually) time period, employers are experiencing two completely different situations. At first, organizations face challenges in shifting the whole office remotely. And now it's another challenge to return those employees back to their offices.

However, it's a matter of relief that the world is slowly coming back to its real face. Our fast-paced life picks up again. Undoubtedly, it won't be easy for many individuals as the coronavirus pandemic will have a lasting impact on their mental health.

In that case, leaders have to take the main responsibility to keep their members cheerful and bring spontaneity in the work back again.

To make things easier, you can use an automated tool to keep your employees connected. WP Project Manager allows project managers and team members to collaborate in real-time and helps to manage their tasks at hand smartly.

Explore All WP Project Manager Features

Do you have any other suggestions for managers to keep their team members mentally healthy at work? Use the comment section below to share your views with us!

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8 Ways To Support Your Employee Mental Health