The new world of work

Next Tuesday morning, BPS, SOM and VRA are hosting an event looking at strategies and techniques that will improve return to work and understand the new world of work. Attendees are likely to be professionals and managers with an interest in work and health including HR managers, health professionals, insurers etc. To book go to: https://www.som.org.uk/civicrm/event/info%3Fid%3D303%26reset%3D1

There are many ways in which the current crisis will impact the world of work and health now and in the longer-term e.g. labour market changes and recession / redundancies / unemployment / the impact on 'good work' agenda / shift to home working and more 'hybrid' forms of working longer-term. These have implications for inclusion, management, ergonomic interventions, and mental health. Employers need to communicate and involve employees in decisions and plans for returning to the workplace. Here are some points to reflect on:

·        Management and leadership - We need to ensure there is good remote leadership to deal with change - with business agility and good communication.

·        Changing expectations of career and what people expect from employers (with a focus on greater inclusion and diversity)

·        Tech - Should be an enabler not a goal and used in the right way. There has been a rush to technology; but we forget the point of it– the more we rely on it the more we need to be careful as to how we implement it.

·        What is professional identity? Tech will impact on our professional identities as it will be less about where you work but who you are

·        What have we lost? – Currently activity is more transactional rather than engaging

·        Covid-19 is going to define the workplace for the next 3-5 years at least -an enduring stressor on mental health at work.

·        Comprehensive return to some premises is not on the agenda and this is game changing for all sectors.

·        The issue of mental health at work is not now one of how to support staff who come into fixed premises but how to support staff in widely distributed networks, many of whom have been redeployed to different roles and may have had only virtual contact with people in their new teams. Mental health issues include mental health concerns arising from the disruption of their old employment situation, generalised anxiety relating to concerns around the global situation and specific anxiety related to covid and their own health and the health of their families.

?      Concerns about young people – how can we prepare ourselves to support young people?

Finally, there is the recent announcement of a vaccine. There are multiple unresolved “unknowns” e.g. how we handle the 10% who don’t get immunity, how long it may protect for...