Helping staff with pandemic stress

Anxiety. Depression. Chronic stress. These are the biggest side-effects that an entire workforce is grappling with thanks to the coronavirus crisis. Companies have historically mishandled (or ignored) mental health issues. Now they are going to have to figure out a way to help people cope as they trickle back into offices across the UK. Read the first piece from an entire section of Work Smarter dedicated to mental health in the workplace below (and read the rest in the latest issue of WIRED UK)

"As offices reopen, employers face a surge in mental health issues - companies are going to have to get to grips with a traumatised workforce" :O Do we agree with this? I've seen quite a few people talking about the shock and anxiety of now going back into the office after getting "used to" working from home. TBH this heat will drive me back in for the air-con alone! :P #WFH #MentalHealth #BackToTheOffice

As people start to return to work, mental health and staff wellbeing will be something leaders would need to pay closer attention to. Your employees may have had to deal with more cases of bereavement, anxiety, stress, depression and poorer health. As this article by WIRED suggests, it's more difficult to spot signs and signals if staff are not in front of you. Has your organisation made mental health and staff wellbeing as much of a priority as remote working practices or re-organising the office space? https://lnkd.in/gvDy7xy #mentalhealthatwork #returntowork #leadership2020

??Mental Health At Work ?? As more companies gear up for a soft return to the office, they have to get to grips with a traumatised workforce Deloitte estimated that a sixth of UK workers were experiencing a mental health issue at any one time. A survey carried out by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development CIPD as lockdown measures started to ease, found that: ??1/4 employees experienced anxiety about returning to work ?? 1/3 was anxious about the daily commute A very interesting read via WIRED. How are you feeling about going back to the office? #thursdaymorning #anxietyawareness #anxiety #startups #mentalhealth #returntowork #wired #workingathome #workplacehealth #mentalhealthmatters

Really interested to hear your thoughts on this one. Companies like PwC have been prioritising the mental wellbeing of their staff for years now and are seeing the benefits at time like this. Other companies are seeing that encouraging their workforce to do a Joe Wicks workout once a week just isn't cutting it. Our mental health has been challenged so much this year, and for social people like myself who love daily interaction with people it has been a real struggle. What initiatives and policies have you seen which are the real success stories here? What challenges do you face, potentially as HR professionals, trying to drive and implement change? Comment below! #leadership #leadershipdevelopment #mentalhealth #workplacehealth #wellbeing #employeeengagement #culture #employer #reedhr #hr #humanresources

How to support your staff with their mental health and wellbeing as they return to the office. What is your organisation doing to tackle this issue? https://lnkd.in/df29VYw