Addressing Employee’s Mental Health Amidst A Global Pandemic

Now more than ever, we are living in a culture that has become attuned to mental health. For many, this has provided space for understanding their mental health and taking the steps to improve it. In 2020, with the stress of a global pandemic, mental health problems have spiked. Inevitably, the challenges of managing mental health affect someone’s job. Sadly, the symptoms one may experience are often compounded by the stress of their work. This cycle may lead to low performance, low satisfaction, and disengagement. This is a problem for organizations and a problem that many are not yet equipped to handle. Providing mental health resources to employees may have once been a novelty, but now due to stressors that were unforeseen and now undeniable, employers have no choice but to act in ways that can meet their employee’s needs or risk high absenteeism and a high turnover rate. With the increase of popularity in the discussion, both inside and outside of the corporate world, the temptation to take a quick-fix approach to mental health that lacks purpose and integrity is high. Employers can take a meaningful approach to the topic of Mental Health by following these three intentional practices.

Where can we start?

The first way an employer can begin to meet their employee’s needs in a relevant way is through having leaders that are competent in the knowledge of mental health and equipped to handle issues that may occur due to mental health-related problems. Research conducted by Gayed, A et al. (2018) found that “manager mental health training appears to increase managers’ understanding of mental health issues and their role and responsibility when it comes to the mental health of their employees, their attitudes towards mental health in the workplace and, importantly, their behavior addressing mental health concerns among their direct reports. (468).” When those in leadership, through training, can understand their employees and change the way they interact with them in more positive ways, their employees are more likely to feel equipped to manage and handle their mental health. 

The second way an employer can set up their employee for success is by creating a psychologically safe environment at work. In 2017, the UK released a report called Thriving at Work: The Stevenson/Farmer Review, where a chilling statistic reported that 1 in 4 of adults in the UK was dealing with a mental health problem but only 1 in 8 were being treated (Farmer & Stevenson, 2017 as cited in The Lancet, 2017). The report suggested that employers create safer and more discrete processes for employees to report mental health issues to promote employees seeking the help they may need. They also suggest offering in-house resources and connections for employees seeking clinical help that may be found outside of their job. Lastly, the report confirmed what Gayed, A et al. reported about having well-informed and well-trained managers; in their report, informed and trained manager’s teams reported less work-related absences from their employees. 

Lastly, there are ways, according to Giorgi, G et al. that employers can help mitigate the effects of the pandemic on employees’ mental health through practical interventions. Eventually, many employees will be returning to the office. Some may be hesitant and scared, and employers must bend to these understandable fears of their employees by offering solutions. Employers can meet these needs by implementing an “improvement of the infrastructures of the workplace, the adoption of correct and shared anti-contagion measures, including regular PPE supply, the implementation of resilience training programs especially for workers with leadership roles (p. 18). Giorgi, G et al. notes that this type of response will make the transition of employees back into the workplace “more fluid and simple (p. 16).” Although the offering of things like hand sanitizer and resilience programs may seem minor, they show intentionality by offering help to reduce the fear in the places where fear is often highest these days. 

The mental health of an employee should be considered something to be cared for by an employer. When people feel valued at their work, they can excel both in and out of their job. By taking the steps to have competent and informed leadership, creating psychologically safe environments, and lastly offering practical help in regards to COVID-19, employers can show regard for their employee’s mental health and create better workplaces. 

References

Gayed, A., Milligan-Saville, J., Nicholas, J., Bryan, B. T., LaMontagne, A. D., Milner, A., . . . Harvey, S. B. (2018). Effectiveness of training workplace managers to understand and support the mental health needs of employees: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 75(6), 462. doi:https://dx.doi.org.vanguard.idm.oclc.org/10.1136/oemed-2017-104789

Giorgi, G., Lecca, L. I., Alessio, F., Finstad, G. L., Bondanini, G., Lulli, L. G., … Mucci, N. (2020). Covid-19-related mental health effects in the workplace: a narrative review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(21). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17217857

Lancet, T. (2017). Improving mental health in the workplace. The Lancet, 390(10107), 2015. doi:https://dx.doi.org.vanguard.idm.oclc.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)32807-6