Why Leaders Must Prioritize Employees’ Mental Health During the Back-to-Work Transition

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By now, we’re all well-aware of the negative effects that the COVID-19 pandemic had on people’s mental health and emotional well-being.?During the pandemic, about?4 in 10?adults in the U.S. reported symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorder, up from?one in ten?adults who reported these symptoms in 2019.

It’s easy to assume that these mental health issues will start to disappear (or at least return to their pre-pandemic levels) now that things are returning to normal. However, the reality couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s true that people feel safer, they’re spending time with friends and family again, and some stressors around caretaking duties have been alleviated as childcare centers and schools reopen.

But although the overall outlook feels positive and some employees are looking forward to working in an office again, any new change is always going to be stressful for people. In fact, there are multiple reasons why mental health will continue to be a key issue that employers need to prioritize in the wake of COVID-19—or they’ll risk falling behind during this critical time period.

Let’s look at how workers’ mental health will be affected as they return to the office and the high costs that organizations will pay if they don’t take steps to address this issue. We’ll also examine what leaders can do to create an environment of psychological safety for their people as they enter this next chapter.

Evolving mental health concerns

First, it’s important to recognize that mental health was a pressing workplace issue long before the pandemic. In a 2019 study about mental health in the workplace, 60% of employees reported experiencing symptoms of a mental health condition during the previous year. We also have to acknowledge that the effects of the stressors that emerged during the pandemic—overwork, isolation, and fear of COVID-19, to name a few—will linger for some time.

However, the return-to-work transition brings with it a whole host of new considerations. Employees heading back to their workplace are likely to have a wide range of concerns, including what level of control they’ll have over their schedule, what the new office experience will be like, how they’ll navigate the social environment at work after a year of isolation, and who will take care of kids, pets, or parents.

Research confirms that these concerns are manifesting as serious mental health issues, with potentially significant consequences for organizations. Two-thirds (66%) of employees say they have anxiety about returning to the workplace, and since March, women have experienced a 33% increase in feelings of anxiety, a 25% increase in stress, and a 23% increase in a depressed mood.

The direct costs of mental health conditions are enormous, but so are the indirect costs: nearly two-thirds (63%) of employees say they have left a job in the past or would like to leave their current job because it is not good for their mental wellbeing. And despite some progress during the pandemic, more than half of employees do not think their organization has done enough to?address mental health issues.

Want more insights and research on this topic, as well as 5 steps business leaders can take to prioritize employees’ mental health during the back-to-work transition? Subscribe to the Workplace Intelligence Insider Newsletter and you’ll immediately receive the complete article.