Enhanced focus on employee mental health and wellbeing ‘here to stay’

The full scale of the psychological fallout from the coronavirus crisis may only become clear in the fullness of time. With isolation and loneliness key factors in mental health deterioration, companies who have seen their workforces shift almost overnight to remote working are increasingly cognisant of the need to provide the right kinds of supports to ensure the wellbeing of their staff.

"The pandemic has had a significant impact on mental health, catapulting wellbeing to the fore and has made it a C-suite and business impact topic," says Sinead Gogan, chief human resources officer with Deloitte.

“Mental health is now a key pillar of our inclusion strategy, and there will be an increasing role for people managers to discuss and support team members with their mental health.”

Throughout the crisis Deloitte continued to offer its Employee Assistance Programme, which is a free resource for employees who are dealing with mental health issues of any kind, as well as free monthly drop-in sessions with a psychologist, now on a virtual basis. They also rolled out a new wellbeing app.

A series of “we’re in it together” webinars targeted at specific cohorts “that might need extra supports or a greater sense of connection” also took place, says Gogan.

The professional services giant is also taking a flexible approach to home working. “For some people their mental health would be served by being able to come into the office a few days a week, for others it is reassurance that they can continue to work at home as they feel safer there,” she says.

Best practices

According to Cecilia Ronan, CEO Citi Ireland, focusing on mental health is “more essential than ever”. She says a range of innovative resources has been developed by the bank’s HR team to help staff navigate the so-called “new normal”. One of these is a “remote working bootcamp”, a virtual training resource where employees can share best practices.

“Citi also developed a series for our people managers with content such as focusing on self-care and managing stress, including how to successfully on-board new hires remotely and ensure they feel included and part of the team and ensuring employee contributions are acknowledged by managers when working remotely and so on,” she says.

A suite of workshops focused on mental health and managing stress and isolation was also launched, while people managers “were provided with the tools” to recognise the signs of stress and burnout.

“We asked them to put relationships with their team first – it is crucial for managers to check in regularly with their teams to understand their anxieties, concerns and how they are doing overall,” says Ronan, adding that practising empathy and compassion across teams is shown to help to lower stress and improve overall wellbeing.

“We also asked our managers to listen to their employees’ diverse perspectives to understand their strengths, development needs and aspirations.”

Psychological damage

It may be that Covid is the catalyst for a longer-term shift to prioritising employee mental health, but for now the pandemic continues to wreak psychological damage.

Deloitte’s Gogan says the enhanced focus on mental health and wellbeing is “here to stay”, while Citi Ireland’s Ronan acknowledged that long periods of uncertainty can take their toll on employee engagement, motivation and wellbeing.

“But it’s our job to help our employees through them, even if we don’t have all the answers. While we’ve all worked hard to adjust to this new normal we have to remember that nothing about this year has really been normal and that can take a toll on both physical and mental health. It’s important to take care of our wellbeing and support our employees accordingly.”