Digital Companies-Is the mental health of your employees on your mind? 6 things to do now

Did you know that:

• “51% of adults perceive that COVID-19 negatively affected their mental health” (October report on “The Importance of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support during COVID-19 by the International Red Cross and the Red Crescent Movement)
• “In the U.S., the COVID-19 pandemic has tripled the share of people who reported symptoms of anxiety or depression” (statista.com)
• 57% of workers report more, equal or less anxiety since COVID-19 2020 (also from statista.com)

These statistics are in sync with what I am hearing from my clients – they are noticing an upsurge in the number of team members who show signs of mental health issues. As the reality of 2021 settles in (the reality being that the pandemic still has a long way to go), they are feeling ill-equipped to deal with this issue. They tell me that their companies have put in place policies to support mental health, but they are not sure if/when the employees have in fact taken advantage of counselling support. Plus, the service providers are becoming overburdened, lengthening their response time.

But the team member turns up to work every day and they have to manage that. How do they know what to look for? How do they balance caring conversations with the perception of intrusion? How do they communicate with someone who is withdrawn and non-communicative? How do they manage the impact of one team member’s behaviour on the rest of the team? How do they balance the need for productivity and serving the customer with the need to understand the debilitating impact of mental illness? And how do they know when a situation might be life-threatening?

With the pandemic, more and more employees are showing signs of mental health issues. This may be a pandemic in and of itself which could last longer than COVID-19. So my clients are right to be very concerned and to seek help in how to best support their team members.

I sought the input of experienced and highly competent practitioners in my community. From their responses, and my own experience, I have identified:

• Time and patience
• Structure closeness
• Encourage mindfulness
• Know what support is available
• Seek input of experts
• Take care of yourself

TIME AND PATIENCE:

• “In my years as a GM, most of my actual work was done after 5:00 pm. I spent my days dealing with employees and their various issues. To some that might sound counterproductive, but what that eventually did was cause loyalty. To get them to open up, they have to trust you and building that trust takes time and patience”
  ~ Judy McCutcheon, Badass Impact Coach

Your ability to help your team members will depend a lot on the quality of the relationships you have developed with them over time. Evaluate the quality of your relationship with each team member and create your plan to slowly build/rebuild trust, so that each one feels comfortable opening up to you. Be prepared to give it time and patience.

STRUCTURE CLOSENESS:

• “Our team is virtual and we have daily morning team meetings and once per week each team member has a 1-1 meeting with their manager. We each have an individual journal in Google Docs in which we write whatever we choose to share only with our manager. It is hoped that there is transparency through all communication. We stay in communication with each other and management which I believe goes a long way in letting each one know they are valued. Self-care is also emphasized and encouraged and everyone kept accountable in unplugging and taking care of themselves since we are virtual.”
  ~ Eve Dixon, Management Consultant

Gone are the casual interactions of physical office space, so coping with workplace changes require that you pay attention to support structures. Short daily meetings and scheduled one-on-one meetings ensure that you keep close to your team members, they keep close to each other and that they feel cared for. Remember that work is an important community in peoples’ lives, and many are missing the interaction that naturally happened when they gathered in one place every day.

ENCOURAGE MINDFULNESS:

• “At minimum managers and their staff could participate in daily meditation and mindfulness. This will help them deal with stress and anxiety”
  ~ Daisy Wright, Career Management Coach

Mindfulness meditation is a tried and proven method for team members to take control of their own anxiety and stress. Meditating together is helpful in supporting their practice (and yours) and engendering a feeling of community. These sessions also allow you to notice changes in your team members, so that you can activate interventions quickly.

KNOW WHAT SUPPORT IS AVAILABLE:

• “I encourage the folks I work with to know what’s available for extended health benefits within their company, as well as the contact info for the EAP (there’s often some free counselling) so that they can make sure their staff is aware of these supports. There is a duty to accommodate mental illness, so they will want to check in with HR about moving forward around accommodations, which can include time off, flexible scheduling to allow for attending medical appointments (mental health related appointments should be treated similarly to other urgent medical appointments), and possibly adjusting work duties. If the company doesn’t already have policy or procedures around flex-time or accommodation for illness, now is a good time to get those in place. Most importantly, the manager should talk to their team member about what it is they need or what supports would be helpful for them”
  ~ Brandy Payne, Workplace Mental Health Consultant

No need to reinvent the wheel – find out what support your organization currently offers. Make sure that your team members know what’s available and remind them regularly. Get a clear understanding of actions you can take on your own, so that you can respond quickly and appropriately to individual needs. And if you think your organization’s support is inadequate, lobby for improvement. You are likely not the only manager feeling a pressing need.

GET INPUT FROM EXPERTS

• “My advice has been to begin a department-wide wellness initiative and to use wellness experts and mental health practitioners to craft it. Including all wellness as part of company culture with embedded plans, mental health partners and a variety of programs to me seems the most effective way.”
  ~ Tamu Petra Browne, Growth and Innovation Coach

• “I also think it is an excellent idea to partner with the wellness experts and mental health practitioners in developing the programme, which should include training and support for managers. They should be able to guide regarding how managers can be supportive in effective ways.”
  ~ Sharon Carruthers, Human Resources Management and Development Consultant

If your organization doesn’t have a wellness programme, do lobby for one now. Ensure that wellness experts are involved. In addition, do your own research to inform yourself of what makes for excellent programmes. Make sure that the programme offers training for managers that at the least, helps them to understand the impact and consequences of mental health issues, how to have compassionate conversations, manage productivity and performance and create a culture of trust and openness.

TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF:

• “Modelling kindness and hope; acknowledging our shared vulnerability in the face of continued uncertainty and fear (one way to do this is by not pretending that we as managers have all the answers because we obviously don’t); making sure that those next level mental health resources are available and accessible without shame or stigma…all of which is easier said than done. But acting in good faith can move mountains”
  ~ Maren Gube, Human Learning Expert

Only by taking care of yourself can you truly be of the best value to your team members. Guard your own mental health, being on the lookout for signs that you need help, and then ask for it. And remember to have a morning ritual that prepares you in mind, body, spirit to cope and thrive every single day (see a link to my guide to developing your morning ritual).

2021 will be another testing year. But it may just be the year that we acknowledge and address mental health as a key aspect of organizational wellbeing.