How Business Leaders Can Promote Positive Employee Mental Health During The Pandemic

While the mental health of employees has been a growing concern within the HR community for some time, the COVID-19 pandemic has cast an important new focus on this topic. During the past nine months, the need to ensure employees’ psychological, mental and emotional wellbeing has produced hundreds of articles, surveys, Zoom meetings, and new employee programs. In fact, according to a recent Forbes study, 69% of employees said the coronavirus has contributed to the most stressful time of their career. How, then, can managers help their employees during this turbulent year? Below are some thoughts and strategies to ensure your employees are feeling great and getting the support they need, even while not in the office. 

Be vulnerable

We’re all living through a demanding and stressful time. From increased child care responsibilities to family illness, to challenges with school age children and loss of jobs by family members, not even the C-Suite is immune to the stresses and anxieties that the pandemic has unleashed.  And while we are all feeling the increased stress, one of the most effective ways to decrease the stigma around mental health in the workplace occurs when leaders are able to openly share their own experiences and are honest with their teams about their own struggles. Authentic leadership will not only empower more people in the organization to feel comfortable discussing their own challenges, but has also been shown to cultivate trust and improve employee engagement and performance. Being open about mental health in the workplace “must begin at the top and cascade throughout the organization,” says Businessolver CEO Jon Shanahan. Consider kicking off any pandemic-related meetings with your own stressers to help promote a safe culture, one of openness and inclusion that encourages people to share freely as needed.

Set a good example for your team

It’s not enough to just say that you support mental well being. To truly demonstrate to your team that these issues are important to you, nothing is more powerful than a manager who matches words with actions. Let your employees know you’re signing off at 3:30 pm to go for a walk or to help your children with homework.  Be up front about the  need to take PTO to handle a sensitive family matter. Promote flexibility in whatever way it makes sense for your organization, and then take advantage of that flexibility yourself to show your team that they can, and should, do this as well. 

Over Communicate

With employees restricted  to home offices, more prescriptive communication around organizational changes and updates or newly available tools is essential. With fewer in-person interactions, it’s easier for people to miss the kickoff of the new EAP or the creation of a new Slack channel. By over communicating, you’ll reduce stress on the part of your employees.  You will also open the door for employees to ask thoughtful and more informed questions. 

Spend time asking...and listening

It’s difficult to know how to help someone if you don’t know what they need. In fact, according to a Harvard Business Review article written during the pandemic, the authors found nearly 40% of global employees said that no one at their company had asked them if they were OK, and those respondents were 38% more likely than others to admit that their mental health had declined since the outbreak. Given this, don’t make assumptions about what your team wants or needs, or immediately jump into fix-it mode. Instead, spend time listening to each of the individuals on your team and hearing their specific concerns and struggles. This effort can take the form of focused one-on-one meetings, or you can begin group discussions by asking everyone to rank their mood on a scale of 1-10. If someone routinely answers 8, then begins to report more 3’s, that’s a clear sign—and an open door to ask directly if everything is truly OK.

Once you hear directly from employees and are able to begin to spot trends, it will be easier to develop targeted initiatives that meet your team’s specific challenges and fit within your organization’s culture. Your employees will likely be receptive to this outreach, and will also appreciate the empathy and compassion that leadership shows for their welfare. Chances are, that employees have wanted  to speak to you about these issues, and you will likely uncover at least one story, idea, or initiative that you didn’t know of before. "Part of it is just people understanding that they're appreciated and acknowledged," said Kate Hoogensen, senior Vice President with Principal Financial Group.

Bring in professional resources

Finally, it’s likely that your organization is not a therapist’s office or healthcare facility. In addition to actively listening to new concerns and introducing new programs and best practices, it is often wise to partner with trained experts in these areas. Consider a group session facilitated by a psychologist or mental health counselor, and/or offer your employees a subscription to well liked apps like Calm or Headspace. Given the sensitivity of these issues and the complexity of navigating them, it can often be more effective to bring in wellness coaches or and psychologists and  to provide a safe space where employees can share their anxieties and concerns.