Healing from pandemic trauma; the long-term physical and emotional aftereffects on employee’s wellbeing and performance

It has been a challenging and extremely volatile past few years for the whole world. No one could have anticipated that a pandemic like Covid-19 would come along and have the ability to shut down and shift the globe in so many ways. We are now getting back into the new norm of daily life and work, and we should commend ourselves and all those around us for how far we have come and manage to keep going.

With that said, we can’t ignore the after-effects of this traumatic event. Nearly 7 million people lost their lives globally – leaving behind friends and family whose lives will be forever changed. People had to go through social distancing policies, lockdowns, isolations, the fear of getting sick, coupled with loss of income, jobs, and fear of what the future would hold. The pandemic definitely exposed and exacerbated the reality of mental health challenges and the need for emotional support. Things like stress, anxiety, and depression reached unprecedented levels and that is why continued advocacy and awareness around these issues are still needed to ensure the health and wellbeing of people around us..

In the workplace specifically, there has been rising rates of staff turnover, absenteeism, and burnout, all of which impact on productivity and business operations. Mental health conditions are estimated to cost South Africa’s economy more than R200 billion (Sanlam, 2022). Financial sustainability is not the only area that have put companies at risk during and after the pandemic, work-related mental ill-health has also become a risk factor that needs more attention. The workplace plays a critical role on moderating or worsening mental health of people, and an organisations culture and environment can either be detrimental or conducive to supporting a healthy workforce.

So, what does this mean for leaders and human-resources professionals who are tasked with taking care of the people in an organization? – each organization is different and there isn’t a one-size fits all approach, what may work for one company may not be true for another, you need to find a strategy that works for your team/organization and ensure that you prioritize and implement it.

Some employers can create an environment where employees can freely disclose their mental health issues and work together to find the assistance needed. While this may work for smaller teams and close employee-employer relations, not all employees may feel comfortable with direct contact in an approach like this. In that case, an organisation can additionally make use of employee assistance/ wellness provider programmes (facilitated in house or externally), there can be wellness awareness days, sharing of information on mental health, or subsidised counselling services. There are many more options out there to consider.

In terms of healthy policies, an organisation must ensure that work culture does not support long-term working out of hours, holidays not being taken, poor work/life balance, and stigma attached to self-care practices such as needing to take time off.

Responsible employers should also be proactive with health, safety, and wellbeing, to avoid the case of an employee completely suffering in silence. For leaders or managers overseeing people, crisis training and learning how to spot signs of burnout, anxiety, trauma, stress, and grief are important in this current climate. The workforce of today want increased focus on employee wellbeing and leaders need to show real empathy and compassion towards health issues. This isn’t something that always come naturally but it can be trained, and employers should recognise this as part of their leadership development.

Realise, recognise, and respond to the challenges facing your employees and colleagues. People held the world together in times of crisis and we must make sure we take mental health in the workplace seriously if we want our people and our businesses to survive and thrive in the post-Covid economy. We have to continue to be resilient towards any unforeseen challenges that can arise, and building a healthy, capable, and productive workforce is at the heart of any good business.

#management #hr #humanresources #thoughtleadership

References

Sanlam., (2022). The Economic Cost of South Africa’s Mental Health Crisis. Sanlam Media Centre.