The coronavirus pandemic has caused a huge shift in the ways businesses operate on both a day-to-day and strategic level. The sudden lockdowns have led to businesses across the country adopting new technologies in order to achieve some sort of continuity. From maintaining IT security through to hosting team meetings, business leaders have jumped at short-term answers to solve what they hope are short-term problems. But, looking after and caring for your employees’ well-being deserves more than a quick fix.
Once staff begin to return to the office, team meetings currently taking place over video calls will be able to return to in-person conversations; similarly, the volume of instant messages will likely fall as colleagues are able to converse face-to-face. But businesses planning for a return to the status quo may be missing a huge opportunity to improve the long-term health and well-being of their staff.
Why well-being should be a priority
The effects of lockdown and isolation have caused significant damage to the population’s mental health. A third of women and a quarter of men in the UK have admitted to experiencing loneliness during the Covid-19 pandemic – and with entire workforces isolated, this presents a serious threat to the health and survival of businesses across the country.
In addition, the impact of mental well-being on productivity has been well documented – humans are social by nature, and we thrive in communities. Collaborative and engaged teams produce happier individuals as well as higher productivity and creativity: the Global Happiness Council estimates that a meaningful increase in workforce well-being can cause as much as a 10% increase in productivity. Workforce well-being has become a priority for some businesses in isolation, as it’s now more difficult than ever to assess how employees are feeling. In reality, it needs a more permanent focus for these initiatives to be successful.
Long-term problems need long-term solutions
Trying to use short-term solutions to solve the isolating effects of lockdown is an ineffective way to approach such a significant and severe problem – about one in four people in Europe suffer from a mental health problem, such as depression or anxiety, each year. Businesses should take this opportunity to implement a long-term and strategic approach to caring for their employees and protecting their mental well-being.
First, building a strong and authentic company culture is central to ensuring employee well-being. Committing to a set of core values should form the foundation of any employee well-being strategy. Company values should cultivate a sense of shared purpose and help guide how employees should engage with each other. Building a strong ‘team’ feeling can have a huge impact on wellbeing, particularly in lockdown. Beyond this, companies should set firm boundaries on work-life balance and keep a close eye on individuals to make sure no one has their capacity too stretched or is experiencing burn-out.
Secondly, while there is plenty of research to suggest that increased exposure to technology, and the Internet in particular, is one of the drivers behind the rise in mental health problems globally, technology can also help provide the answers. With workforces operating remotely, many businesses have turned to technological solutions, such as digital coaching, to help their staff connect with and access the support they need, whether that’s tackling stress or managing work-life balance.
Coaching, for example, is proven to reduce stress, anxiety and depression, and when offered digitally, can be accessed regardless of the participant’s location, time zone, or even language. But regardless of the solution you use, consistency is key for promoting real change, and if you view these solutions as stop-gap fixes you’ll be missing their true potential.
Remote working is here to stay
Employee well-being is not a new issue for businesses to tackle, and it isn’t an issue that can be solved overnight simply by purchasing a new tool. But the isolation forced upon us all by the coronavirus pandemic has given every company the opportunity to thoroughly evaluate their provision of support for their employees.
Although teams will begin to return to their offices, for most businesses remote working has become a more acceptable option for the future. As we move towards more flexible and hybrid models of working, it would be counterproductive and wasteful to reverse the solutions that have been produced in the course of this crisis.
Employers will always have a duty to closely care for their staff’s well-being, so should continue or expand any programmes as economic conditions begin to improve. The companies that will emerge from this pandemic with an advantage will be those that take the opportunity to invest in their people in a long-term and meaningful way.
By Juliane Sterzl
Juliane Sterzl, CoachHub’s Vice President of UK and Ireland, leads CoachHub’s rapidly growing UK&I Sales team, the fastest growing international territory.
Having started her career working with leading technology vendors at Gartner, she more recently specialised in supporting HR & L&D professionals as Regional Vice President at Skillsoft and Regional Head of Sales at LinkedIn. Juliane’s current role is to make CoachHub the leading digital coaching provider in the UK.