Leadership, the Coming Tsunami of #LongCOVID and Supporting our Workplace Colleagues

I've been dealing with post-viral illness for more than ten years. COVID-19 is creating a huge cohort of people in similar circumstances. How will we create a workplace that is compassionate and understanding to those recovering from COVID-19?

Of late, I've seen more articles about 'the workplace of the future' or 'the future of work' (after the pandemic, I mean.) All these articles talk about work-from-anywhere for those who can do so, and how physical workplaces will change for those who cannot work from anywhere. But one area that has been greatly overlooked? The people themselves.

As I write this on Feb 1, WHO has confirmed 102 million cases of COVID-19 and 2.2 million deaths across the globe. The amount of human suffering in the pandemic is staggering. For those who survive COVID-19 (the vast majority of cases are relatively mild and require no hospitalization), a significant proportion of them will come back to work with lingering symptoms. No longer contagious, and no longer suffering from acute COVID-19 infection, these individuals will find that they just aren't the same as they were before the infection. According to one study in The Lancet, 6 months after COVID recovery, 63% of patients had ongoing muscle weakness and fatigue (e.g. ME/CFS), 26% had sleep problems, and 23% had anxiety and depression.

Getting post-viral illness meant I had to change the course of my career - away from working on the ground in humanitarian emergencies. But with support, I still found a way to contribute. How do we enable our colleagues to contribute after COVID?

When I first heard about "Long COVID," I thought hey that sounds like me. In 2009, I was bit by a mosquito while on a humanitarian mission in the Dominican Republic and had a bout with dengue fever, after which I was never quite the same. Chronic pain, fatigue, and "brain fog" have been constant companions for more than twelve years at this point. While it remains a struggle, I was able to adjust my work, and still continue to have professional success and a career in the backdrop of these challenges caused by 'long dengue.' For someone who was used to being on a plane headed into a crisis zone, coming out of the field was a necessary but difficult transition.

Our workplace of the future must assume millions of people returning to work from COVID infection, a significant percentage of whom may have lingering symptoms into the future. It should be a policy discussion at a national level - how do we ensure that people have the best possibility to resume their work, are supported with long term studies, science and therapies? But even at an individual human level, how do we create a safe, welcoming space for our friends and colleagues who may be returning back to work. While the long term policy and science implications are beyond the scope of this article, I wanted to share a few things that helped me.

Space: When a colleague comes back into the workplace after being medically cleared to do so, understand that they will be likely still processing what happened to them. Getting ill may be a life altering experience, but then there they are on Monday starting to work on the budget again. People may need the emotional space to adjust to being back at work given everything that's going on. Be supportive, but let people have their space - avoid questions unless you know it's safe and not intrusive.

Acceptance: Once upon a time (the 1980s), "chronic fatigue syndrome" was often derided as 'lazy housewife syndrome.' The people suffering from extreme exhaustion and 'brain fog' (often, we now know, from post-viral illness), were seen as lazy and somehow choosing their behavior. In fact, many people dealing with ME/CFS and other chronic illnesses struggle to get their healthcare providers to take their symptoms seriously, much less their families, friends and co-workers. Understand that regardless of the individual's unique symptoms and presentations, this is a real biological experience they are going through.

Psychological Safety: One of the things I've actually liked about the 'new workplace' in the pandemic is that people seem to be much more honest about their human experiences. Do you remember when (in the before-time), people would ask "how are you doing?" and everyone would be "fine"? No longer. It seems that the pandemic and the reality of this time has freed many of us to have more authentic, human connections - to be upfront with our struggles. For those of us whom our home has become our office, we have had to juggle all of our contexts - parent, provider, worker, significant other, etc. continually. When people have shared their authentic struggles during the pandemic, I have tried to make sure I listened without judgement, without 'trying to solve their problem' or etc. When someone comes to you and discloses their struggles, honor that trust, and create the safe environment for that moment to be real.

"What do you need?" On days where my brain just isn't firing right or I am in pain, I often feel the need to be even more productive than usual. It's a weird 'I won't let my body win!' kind of dynamic in my own head. But when I get on a call and am obviously struggling or challenged, having a colleague say "Hey, Rakesh, what do you need right now? Would you like to reschedule this meeting?" is often a good way of making it ok to just be. Maybe we just reschedule the meeting for tomorrow! If the situation is high consequence or cannot be delayed, offering to take point on the effort for a little bit or otherwise finding out how to be supportive can also take the pressure off.

The truth is, we don't really know what the impact of Long COVID will be on the workplace of the future. The long-term hit to healthcare costs and productivity are hard to fathom as we are in the midst of the pandemic. But at leaders, we should be thinking about the safety, security, opportunity and agency of our colleagues and direct reports who may be going through long-term COVID impacts. I've been fortunate that my career has progressed and been successful despite these challenges. People will still want to work - and can still contribute valuable things to their profession - after coming back from COVID-19. How we create a welcoming and safe environment for them to do so will be a defining test of our leadership and our compassion now, and in the years to come.