Covid-19 has had an impact on each of your employees lives in some way, we take a look at the potential impact of Covid-19 on employees’ mental health and steps you can take as an employer to help care for your employees’ wellbeing.
Keep employees informed
There have been many changes over the last few months, some employees may have been furloughed, others required to work, and some may have lost their job as a result of the pandemic. We have now entered the second lockdown in England, with the restrictions in Scotland, Wales and Ireland varying from that of England. Keeping employees informed about the impact of the government announcements on your business will help employees who might feel concerned. Having safe, reliable knowledge of a situation can help reduce feelings of uncertainty and worry in employees. A weekly or monthly email containing the latest advice and figures and how it impacts the business and employees’ roles is a great idea to help keep employees informed.
Promote access to support
Some employees may need access to support during the Covid-19 pandemic, now is a good time to remind employees of any services you have available to them that they may have forgotten about. Online resources or access through services such as Simply Health can be extremely beneficial providing support and a number of wellbeing services. If you don’t have any support services in place it could be a good time to review and see if there are any services out there that would be beneficial to your employees. One option some companies opt for is to train specific employees through external or online courses to be mental health trained, these employees can then offer trained support to their colleagues. There are also free resources you can point your employees towards including NHS every mind matters and the charity Mind.
Keep up the social aspects of work through tech
Work is a huge part of employees lives and can be a core part of some employees’ social interactions. A large proportion of the population are now working from home, this transition away from a social office to a home environment can have a huge impact on the mental health of employees. Keeping the social aspects of working life going through the use of online chats and video calls can have a big impact on employees’ health and wellbeing. This is especially the case as employees are now actively being encouraged not to interact with people outside their household. Holding things like work lunches through video chats or encouraging employees to speak to one another about things other than work will help create support groups within the workplace and keep social interactions a part of daily work life.
Encourage self-care
Encourage employees to take time to address their self-care needs outside of work. Self-care is anything that is done to specifically take care of mental, physical or emotional health. Self-care should be healing and enjoyable, simple things like taking time out to watch a favourite film, take a bath or reading a book as long as these activities are enjoyable and beneficial all fall under self-care. Encouraging employees to make time for themselves can have a positive impact on their mental health. To find out more about self-care take a look at the Mind website.
Communication and Awareness
Enabling an organisational culture that is open and encourages communication between employees is beneficial to both the employees and employer. Open communication and discussions will allow employers to gain a greater understanding and awareness of any potential issues or vulnerable employees. The Covid-19 pandemic has been especially tough on vulnerable people and households that have needed to shield. Being able to offer additional support as an employer to those struggling and understanding the impact on the most vulnerable will help care for the mental health of those who need it most. Creating a culture of communication is not something that can happen quickly, encouraging open and frank discussions between employees and employer without fear of consequences is a great way to move towards a culture shift.
