The Pandemic Is Creating A Tsunami Of Mental Health Problems. Here Is What You Can Do As Of Today – Forbes

Worried man in facemask looking out the window.

People around the world were keen to see the back of 2020, an annus horribilis in more than one way. However, the harsh reality is, that at least the first half of 2021 will be just as challenging, if not more. Unfortunately, despite some early optimistic predictions, the pandemic is still rampant across many countries, with new virus variants inducing new lockdown measures, and people are starting to have enough. As the Takeaway host Tanzina Vega tweeted, people are hitting the "pandemic wall". Growing social unrest, disengagement at work are all early warning signs that policymakers and employers need to take seriously.

What is underneath is all, and what can leaders do to navigate through 2021 as smoothly as possible, while ensuring mental wellbeing and the continued performance of their employees?

Paying attention to mental wellbeing will only gain in importance

It's now getting very long... A long time without seeing friends or family, without travel, without the companionship of coworkers, without the formerly known carefree existence, that did not include masks, hydrogels, social distancing, and wiping down shopping. And this means, that being aware and attentive to the mental well-being of the people around us will be even more important moving forward. What psychologists have now conceptualized as COVID Stress Syndrome is projected to impact every 5th person in the UK, and its health impact to eclipse the physical footprint of the virus. It is a composite mental health disorder, which is made up of different elements, the fear of the virus and contamination being one, compulsive checking of news and social media being another, including also anxieties around job-security and income, health scares, and a post-traumatic aspect linked to the on-going devastation of human lives around us.

Transparency around job security and burnout prevention become key business imperatives

So if employers wish to offer well-rounded mental wellbeing support to their employees need to consider all of these aspects. Firstly, if they haven't done so yet, they need to embrace transparency around job security and salaries and communicate regularly to employees about the next few months. If employees need to be laid off or pay reduced, they want to and need to know in advance to prepare for it. Leaders may also decide to involve the employees in the decision-making around salary and cash-flow questions, by empowering them to decide how they would like to proceed.

The CEO of the electronic goods company, Otter Products, Jim Parke started with regular Q&A sessions about the company's financial health and is now sending twice-weekly video messages on the company's financial outlook to reassure employees and create radical transparency.

In times when there is so much outside of our control, whatever little control we can retain can be very reassuring. Especially in some of the hardest-hit sectors like the aviation industry and hospitality, executives and managers have taken pay-cuts to try to ward off laying off employees. But offering extra paid-time-off to be able to manage childcare or homeschooling has also been very helpful to employees. The US-based tech company Chegg for example, started giving employees extra paid days off already back in April, fearing a tsunami of employee burnout cases, which for a tech company that requires highly skilled and specialized talent is unaffordable. But paid time off can only really work, if employees are able to cope with the workload! Many businesses have ramped up their outputs to stave off the economic impact of the pandemic, putting increased pressure on employees. So a paid day-off won't be helpful if workers will use the following weekend to catch up with work and meet expectations.

In terms of lifting the collective spirits of teams, some employers have been doing a great job ensuring they regularly check-in with employees, monitor their moods and mental wellbeing, and offer both professional support, as well as ways for employees to disconnect from the stressful daily grind. SAP in Germany has implemented virtual Wine tasting sessions, sending 4 bottles of wine to the home of employees, and then a professional sommelier ran through them via zoom. But more than that, they also developed their own in-house app that links employees for a lunch-date, so if you are isolated and feeling lonely, you can connect to a different colleague every day and enjoy a lunch-date via zoom, chat and get to know them. SAP in Switzerland has implemented large scale Mindfulness coaching and support to their employees, supporting them with anxiety and stress.

Finding a balance between digital and off-line

One of the great winners of the pandemic is the companies behind all sorts of online and digital tools, from zoom to the gaming industry and online retailers. So when we are "off work", we are still online.. doing our shopping, watching Netflix or online theatre broadcasts, gaming, and even children are on their games or in online zoom classes. What creative ways could there be to ensure employees have also the opportunity to disconnect and be offline? A small start can be to adjust the beginning and end times of meetings, to make sure employees can have 10-15 minutes between online calls and meetings. Some companies have reverted back to old-fashioned phone-calls while going for a walk. Employers and HR could brainstorm, what activities or tasks could be performed off-line to create the much-needed digital break for employees.

How to notice when employees are struggling

Very importantly, organizations need to verify, whether managers and team-leaders are equipped with the skills and confidence to check-in on employees and notice if something is wrong. Many organizations are putting out regular feelers in the form of pulse-surveys, which enables the workforce to signal issues while remaining anonymous, if the culture may otherwise penalize vulnerability or consider the difficulty of coping as a weakness. Regular phone or zoom check-ins are also helpful, just to vent and check-in on each other, as well as offering a menu of accessible mental health support, from mindfulness to meditation apps, workout videos, employee assistance programs, councilors, or mental health professionals.

Role-modeling is still the most powerful way

All of these can be put in place relatively quickly, however, unless there are clear leadership buy-in and role-modeling, these initiatives won't fulfill their potential, as employees won't be courageous enough to take them up. So a CEO walking a dog during the day, speaking openly about mental health struggles or anxiety, and regularly creating opportunities for discussing these issues can go a very long way. In a very candid discussion, CPA Canada president and CEO Charles-Antoine St-Jean set down and recorded a video conversation with KPMG chief mental health officer Denis Trottier to discuss the realities of managing our mental health. Two men at the prime of their careers openly talking about depression, how it affected them, and what help they sought is the stuff we need more of.

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The Pandemic Is Creating A Tsunami Of Mental Health Problems. Here Is What You Can Do As Of Today - Forbes