Real life came in through the Zoom window and leaders need to support it

“Do not bring your personal life to work”.

“Smile, leave your problems at home”.

“Leave it at the door and be professional”.

All comments I am sure we have all heard in our working history. It is just not possible to compartmentalise in this way. It never was.

Sure, we tried. But at what personal cost?

Mental health concerns are the most common source of lower productivity, according to Superfriend’s 2020 thriving at work report. https://superfriend.com.au/resources/itw/

Which makes sense, right?

Absenteeism, distraction, confusion, perfectionism, agitation, misunderstanding, conflict, resolving conflict, melancholy, lack of energy and motivation.

All these are just some of the factors which are a result of, or can impact, our productivity.

Personal life IS life

So how does it make sense to ask people to leave the complexity of their life at home?

Policy makers and health professionals have known this for some time.

Employees are a whole person - they cannot leave their personal life at the door any more than they sprout wings and fly to the moon.

For employees to perform at their best they need to be in a place of “flow”.

Inner life, personal life and work life.

As enlightened leaders we have witnessed the messy richness of our employee’s life though the camera lens of Zoom meetings. They are a whole person, and we can no longer unsee, unknow, or ignore.

We are all now invested in them and their life.

We know it all and can no longer unknow it.

Recognising and embracing our employee as a whole person and reframing work life in that context, enables us to support happy, productive, high-performing people and teams.

Sense of belonging

As leaders we need to go beyond a carer’s leave policy or flexible work arrangement and get to the core of belonging.

Telling our employees “You belong to this work tribe and as such we care about you and your tribe”. 

But how do we create teams and leaders capable of deep understanding and caring, without the destructive and unhelpful gossip?

And how do we continue to monitor the wellbeing and resilience of ourselves and our people as we start to fatigue into the new normal?

These are all questions worthy of examination.

It’s not difficult.

At the risk of repeating myself, I am going to remind us all of my go-to top 10 actions organisations can do to invest in the mental health and wellbeing of their people.

I understand sometimes it can’t all be done at the same time, so if you need to prioritise, start with training supportive leaders and simply keep talking about mental health and wellbeing.

Good leadership and good conversations go a long way to building strong relationships based on trust, kindness and belonging.

If you are up for the top ten, here is my reminder.

1.    Train supportive leaders

Frontline leaders need to lead with empathy, care, and concern. They need to identify, act, and remove risk to employee’s health and wellbeing. It is first and foremost about supportive leadership. We do after all spend one third of our life at work.

2.    Use and promote health and wellbeing programs

That encourage, motivate and engage employees and their families to actively manage and guard those things that are essential to wellbeing. Sleep, physical activity, nutrition, and mindfulness.

3.    Support a healthy work-life balance

Enabling staff through systems, policies, organisational behaviour, and culture to take time out for social connection and important lifetime events. Whether it’s school assemblies, babies, parents, volunteering or playing in the Grand Final - we all need to belong and be part of something bigger than ourselves.

4.    Connect with your community

How is what we do, our day-to-day contribution part of making society better? Whether it is our built environment, keeping the lights on, caring for the vulnerable, or building capability and capacity we are all part of making this world a better place.

5.    Assess jobs and workplaces

What are the job demands from a biopsychosocial perspective? Are we ensuring employees physically and psychologically safe?

If employees are working 12 hours a day, six days a week, what is the long-term impact on their physical and mental health and wellbeing?

6.    Get help to manage change

Ensure supports are in place for people transitioning through change.

7.    Analyse psychological incidents

Just like critical incident investigations and root cause analysis following a near miss or physical injury, workplaces should learn from critical incidents of a psychological nature.

8.    Train all employees in your values

Values-based behaviour, respectful relationships and managing uncomfortable situations before they become an incident are all vital.

Ask yourself, ‘How do we call out behaviours that are not consistent with the organisational values?’ and ensure your leaders know how to respond.

 9.    Keep talking about mental health and wellbeing

Have open conversations, like the ones we are having today, and use tools such as posters, events and guest speakers about mental health and wellbeing. With a focus on removing the stigma and sign posting supports. 

10. Listen

Drop the organisational hierarchy and listen to your staff. Everything from social media listening through to regular pulse surveys of employees and everything in the middle. Actively listen and most importantly act.