The COVID-19 pandemic is an extremely stressful time for everyone. Employee stress is exacerbated by factors beyond their control. Moreover, working from home has isolated many employees from their social support systems. It’s no surprise that under these conditions, the mental health of employees are severely suffering. A recent report by Mental Health America found that a staggering 83% of workers feel emotionally drained from work. The same report discovered that 59% of workers admit that their supervisor does not provide them with the support they need to manage their stress.
In this article, we’ll explore five strategies to help you support your employees through these uncertain and stressful times.
Host Virtual Social Events
With your employees more isolated than ever from other human beings, hosting a couple of virtual social events a month could help mitigate the stress caused by the pandemic. Assuming your workplace is currently remote, there are plenty of ways to promote stress relief and team bonding virtually.
Your virtual social event could be something as relaxed and low-effort as a movie night. Many streaming services like Disney Plus offer a streaming party option. Another fun option is to play virtual games together. There are plenty of free, online board game platforms to help you host a virtual board game event. On the other hand, if you want to nurture more meaningful discussions, you could try icebreakers or a card game like We’re Not Really Strangers.
Implement An Inclusive Sick Leave Policy
An inclusive sick leave policy for your employees can help put their minds at ease about the worst case scenario. Many of them are most likely anxious about their job security in the event that they become sick with the virus. Informing your employees that their job is safe even if they fall ill might help alleviate a lot of anxieties.
Moreover, an inclusive sick leave policy demonstrates to your employees that you value them and the work that they do. This can strengthen trust and loyalty between your company and the employees.
When creating your sick leave policy, consider the amount of time it takes for most people to fully recover from the coronavirus. Although the recommended quarantine period is only two weeks, it might take others longer than that to recover.
Encourage Employees To Ask For Support
While conversations about mental health in the workplace has improved remarkably in recent years, many employees are still hesitant to seek support when they need it. Inform your employees that it’s perfectly okay for them to ask for support and accommodations whenever the need arises.
Normalize conversations about mental health disorders, stress, and burnout in your workplace. This might encourage some employees to seek support that they otherwise would not. It would also be helpful to inform your employees of the resources available to them should they require support.
Offer Access To Mental Health Resources
Although more companies than ever acknowledging the importance of mental health in the workplace, not all of them offer the support employees need when their mental health suffers. By offering access to resources to help manage their mental health, you can make your employees feel valued and supported.
Some workplaces offer a free subscription to a meditation app. However, if possible, you could also offer an online helpdesk to help manage mental health. Last but not least, encourage your employees to approach you if they have any questions or concerns about the resources available to them.
Be As Flexible As Possible
In the face of uncertain times, it’s important to offer your employees as much flexibility as possible. If an employee needs to change their schedule to better suit the schedules of other people in their household, try your best to accommodate them.
While offering flexibility, it’s important to provide stability as well. Your employees are facing a lot of unknowns, but you can try to be a stabilizing force in their life by maintaining some semblance of the way thing were before.
Conclusion
Employees are currently facing high levels of stress and rising rates of burnout than ever before. To help them get through this challenging time, it’s crucial to offer ample support and resources. You might not be able to prevent stress caused by factors outside of work, but you can certainly make your employees feel safe and supported at work.
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