How the Metaverse Will Impact Workplace Mental Health

What is the Metaverse and how will it affect our mental health?

Microsoft recently announced that it will sunset AltSpaceVR, the tech giant's highly refined and popular social VR app, and will instead focus on Mesh, its newly launched VR platform for workplace collaboration. This could well mark a global shift in metaverse technologies innovating more on revolutionizing the workplace, alongside existing investments in entertainment and social networking.?

It still remains to be seen how far the technology can go in fully redlining the workplace experience, but organizations across the world are already dabbling in it anyway. Oreo became the most recent company to create the OREOverse, its own metaverse.

This new model of digital interaction and being holds the potential to radically change every aspect of our lives, including our mental health and how we deal with it.

Simply put, the metaverse is an immersive, multisensory virtual experience that will enable novel means of communication in a hypercomplex digital setting. It is set to be a combination of various existing technologies, like virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and the Internet of Things in their highest, most advanced forms.

The metaverse, while still largely in its developmental stages, holds a lot of promise in transforming our ways of working. The COVID-19 pandemic has already made us all realize the benefits of hybrid work. With the metaverse, our work systems and culture are set to change for the better albeit with challenges.

Imagine yourself "walking into" a metaverse store. An avatar version of a customer service provider greets you and gives you a product demo. This is an evolution of the word-based customer service interactions that we are used to in the digital world, and the metaverse holds the possibility to radically change these interactions and impact contact centers and those who choose customer service outsourcing solutions.

The metaverse also has the potential to redefine "remote" work, as it enables us to be more "present." Imagine your meta self entering your office premises and interacting with the avatars of your colleagues, holding meetings in conference rooms and giving presentations to clients while you remain comfortably at home without worrying about your appearance or where you're logging in from. It would facilitate greater collaboration between teams spread across different corners of the world, allow for more autonomy, promote asynchronous working, and enable employees to build more meaningful connections in the workplace. Such interactions would far exceed any remote interactions we currently have with each other, presenting exciting opportunities for businesses to unlock seamless communication.

The metaverse undoubtedly presents new, improved opportunities for businesses to not just communicate with their clients, but also to reimagine the whole working experience. Whether that's through revamping the hybrid working pattern to include virtual office spaces as well, or by building employee wellness practices within the metaverse itself — the possibilities are endless. However, there are pressing concerns about the potential detrimental impact it could have on employee well-being and mental health.?

Research suggests that the average global internet user spends over seven hours per day using the internet across all devices. As convenient as this may be, our ever-increasing dependence on the internet is having a deep impact on our mental health. Increased screen time, especially on social media, is already making people more depressed and lonely.?

With the metaverse, as real-life interactions get further replaced by virtual ones and we spend more time online, there remains a possibility that, over time, our ability to communicate in person could be affected as we become more accustomed to hiding behind our avatars. Humans need other humans, and despite all of social media's claims of connecting us with each other, its polarizing environment and ruthless algorithms have managed to make us feel lonelier in our real lives.

The metaverse holds the possibility of isolating us even further and impacting our motivation to do our job. We may have an active life in the metaverse, but will that necessarily translate to a healthy social life in the real world? What about when an employee faces discrimination in a metaverse workplace? How will racism, sexism and ableism translate in the metaverse?? As the lines between the virtual and real world get further blurred, it is imperative for organizations to consider how they can build safe, inclusive spaces for their people.

For starters, organizations must be ready to update and transform their employee well-being programs and HR policies to take the changing needs of their employees into consideration. Companies using the Metaverse as well as developers of the platform have a shared responsibility to ensure there are safeguards in place to prevent discrimination, harassment, and misconduct in the Metaverse. In fact, Meta itself has built in safeguards to prevent employees from committing misconduct, through the creation of a virtual boundary between each avatar to prevent any form of sexual harassment.

When it comes to mental health, most managers and senior executives still find it hard to spot the telltale signs of burnout and stress in their employees and offer them the support needed. With the metaverse in place, this is set to become harder as employers interact only with avatars that don't betray any information about what a person is actually feeling unless said aloud.?

Additionally, not all employees might be comfortable having intimate discussions about their well-being with their managers on a virtual platform as it can come across impersonal and lacking the human connection. This can significantly impact the relationship between managers and new hires, eventually affecting the workplace environment.

Excessive screen usage also comes with its associated challenges such as disturbed sleep, disruptions in building social relationships and regulating one’s impulses.?

Wellness programs will have to come up with unique solutions to address these challenges and make sure employees thrive in the metaverse, instead of only enabling faster workflow.?

This is just what Re:Set has been doing. Our professionals have the expertise to help organizations extend their presence in the metaverse while having employee well-being at the very heart of their approach. We train executives to be better mental health leaders in the metaverse by educating them on the importance and effective ways to connect with teams in a virtual space. Concurrently, we also focus on fostering trust and rapport between teams through our online community support groups and virtual reflection based workshops. Our extensive tools and resources can provide organizations with the right skill sets to help mitigate mental health issues in their people.?

Contrary to popular perception, experts are of the opinion that the metaverse won’t entirely replace our current way of working — it will simply complement the current hybrid structures that are in place.

One way of doing this is to organize and encourage more in-person events and meetings for employees. While hybrid work and interactions in the metaverse remain the norm, in-person meetings can help boost morale and enhance relationships. In-person interactions can provide employees with opportunities to network with other teams outside of the actual event, which may be lacking during virtual meetings. Additionally, having a mixture of virtual and in-person events can ensure employers are being sensitive to the needs and preferences of all their employees, including those who are not yet comfortable opening up and sharing on virtual platforms.

Companies should also make sure employees get "time off" from the metaverse, and encourage employees to limit screen use wherever possible. In fact, many companies are already encouraging employees to undergo “digital detoxification” and allowing for screen free time during working hours.

Alternatively, hosting regular training sessions on appropriate conduct in the metaverse and building mental health awareness among managers will also help promote an inclusive metaverse environment where people feel encouraged to speak up about their mental health concerns. In addition, employees should also be supported in cultivating appropriate tools and coping strategies to shift to a completely different working model.?

Re:Set offers scientifically-backed and practical workshops to learn about appropriate digital behaviours and etiquettes while also aiding users to learn work-life integration strategies and positive habits for a healthy and well-rounded life.?

Technology becomes biased when the people who create the technology don't check and correct their biases. All of us feel happier when we are given the chance to express ourselves more freely and forge meaningful connections with others. The metaverse holds the promise of doing just that. What remains to be seen is how it can maneuver around challenges of mental health and misconduct to present a platform that can truly change the way we connect with the world.

Find more resources on the website.