How to tackle employee burnout and workplace mental health
Stacy M. Crim, MHA
Industry Leader & Strategist, Health Equity Advisor & Mentor | Employer Benefits - Delivering a personalized and meaningful health care experience | Chief Member
The COVID pandemic had an immediate impact on work, sending many of us home to do our jobs virtually on a full-time basis. We all had to juggle the other facets of our lives, during a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, without the usual boundaries between our professional and personal lives.
Two and half years later, we may be back at the office a bit more and seeing people more in person, but there are long-term and even permanent impacts that we need to face. This is why Regence BlueShield partnered with the Puget Sound Business Journal on a recent panel discussion in Seattle about Employee Burnout and Workplace Mental Health.
We convened business leaders to tackle complex questions about employee mental health challenges, employee retention, and how to connect with your employees when many of them aren’t coming into the office and some may work from home permanently.
About 130 people were in attendance to listen to Jared Short, CEO of Regence Health Plans; Lou McDermott, Deputy Director of the Washington State Health Care Authority; Michelle McDaniel, CEO of Crisis Connections; and Ketul Patel, CEO of Virginia Mason Franciscan Health. ?
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McDermott told a story about one of his employees who is a single mom and was facing challenges in raising her kids and working full-time from home in the early months of the pandemic. The Health Care Authority changed its rules to allow for more flexibility for employees in how they completed their jobs while still juggling their personal lives. Among the changes is McDermott helped babysit his employee’s children in the office. ?
The pandemic has reshaped our lives and it’s more important than ever to utilize our support systems, take time for ourselves to grieve, and to acknowledge that we are all facing difficulties. None of this is easy.
If you’re fortunate enough to have an Employee Assistance Plan (EAP) at your job, find counseling there. Use telehealth if you’re not comfortable going in person, or use a mental health app like MyStrength.?Talk to your loved ones, and ask them how they are doing.
To hear more of the conversation about Workplace Mental Health, you can watch video of the Regence-PSBJ panel discussion.?