8 Employee Wellness Solutions for COVID-19 and Beyond

If I offer mindfulness courses and employee wellness interventions to corporates and NGOs, why on earth am I writing this post on why these well-intentioned offerings can cause some employees more stress than ease?

I recently finished a contract with a global marketing company where I offered a 4-week virtual mindfulness course to their Sub-Saharan Africa team. It was well received by the employees that participated, and it is clear that there is an abundance of people who are struggling to adapt to the new and unknown pressures that working from home and other shifts in their familiar routine bring.

I applaud those organisations that have swiftly introduced means of supporting their staff through this global pandemic and all the unprecedented changes it has brought about, but I am coming to realise that they need to do more than simply offer the option of support. Here’s why:

Employees are currently being bombarded with virtual yoga, meditation and fitness classes to help them stay as healthy as possible during this time of crisis. Most people already know that they should eat well, move more and relax more to be healthy so providing classes, although helpful and encouraging, can only do so much. Paradoxically, it can even be an added pressure to people who are already feeling like they aren’t coping with what they’ve already got on their plates.

In times where our working lives are disrupted, the onus has to shift to organisations to promote wellbeing but also to create a framework that enables people to flourish.

Now more than ever how you as CEO manage your people and the ongoing COVID-19 situation will have more of an impact on employee well-being than any virtual class.

Below, I take a multi-dimensional look at how employers can enhance employee wellbeing during times of change. We look at this across the 8 dimensions of wellness and from both an employee and employer perspective, including a-typical wellness ideas.

1.Spiritual Wellness

The term ‘spiritual wellness’ may conjure up ideas of religion or esoteric belief practices, but that is not what I’m referring to. Spiritual wellness means to being connected to something greater than yourself and having a set of values, principles, morals and beliefs that provide a sense of purpose and meaning to life, then using those principles to guide your actions.

The sense of meaning and purpose for soldiers in combat grows out of protecting, and being protected by, their comrades in arms—a shared commitment to safeguard one another’s lives. Doctors have even found that people with purpose in their lives are less prone to disease.

Now more than ever leaders need to lead with a sense of purpose and make it clear that their employees know that they are part of that shared commitment.

Take this time to remind employees of the shared values and the purpose of the organisation. In times of uncertainty, having purpose and meaning in our daily activities can do wonders for our mental health and positivity.

2. Intellectual Wellness

At the moment many are finding it challenging to maintain composure and so it’s more important than ever for leaders to maintain a sense of calm and constant communication with employees.

Illness, worry for loved ones, job insecurity and financial strain are on everyone’s mind. Employees may get confused, make assumptions and be excessively – and perhaps unnecessarily - worried about the negative effects the crisis could have on their jobs.

Maintain a constant flow of communication to employees from the CEO and through the leaders in the organisation. This will go a long way towards reassuring your people; help boost morale and maintain a positive outlook. Even if the news is not necessarily uplifting, the way it is communicated – and the fact that there is open communication – can help to keep everyone in the picture and manage expectations.

Providing employees with weekly communications including what you as an organisation are doing, guidelines they should follow and recommendations for managing work during these times is as important as the communication itself.

3. Occupational Wellness

It will come as no surprise that job insecurity and work overload are the main contributors of work-related stress. At this time, it may be difficult for employers to provide security, however what they can do is continue to help employees manage their workload at home and help them stay connected.

Siobhan Murray, a resilience coach, psychologist and specialist in burnout, has a great analogy. She says, “imagine waking up one morning and realising there are bears in your back garden. You can’t go outside and your trying desperately not to get eaten by these bears. Then your manager calls and asks you for that report.”

We can’t deny that this is a crisis, and everyone is managing it differently. We also can’t deny that organisations still have clients to serve and need to remain profitable in order to survive. Agreeing expectations around key deliverables and important tasks is important both for the manager and the employee. Business as usual is a tough expectation.

4. Environmental Wellness

It’s challenging to adapt to working from home. To quote Tracy Keogh, one of the founders of Grow Remote, “this is not truly what remote working is about. It’s crisis management”.

How easy you make it for your team to work remotely is important for managing stress, particularly for parents or carers who have extra responsibilities.

As someone who has been managing remote teams for many years, Tracy recommends that leaders think of it like “re-creating the office, meeting rooms and common areas” however rather than using physical buildings you’re making use of virtual channels, chat rooms and social interactions.

One of the main reasons remote companies rate so high on sites like Glassdoor (a website where current and former employees anonymously review companies) is that all these interactions are deliberate. In normal circumstances people would have laptops, children would be in school/crèche and elderly parents wouldn’t be as reliant on us.

Managers need to be cognisant of everyone’s individual circumstances and utilise as many of the virtual channels of communication as they can.

5. Social Wellness

Research by Stanford University found that social wellness is one of the most important dimensions for overall health and well-being. In a meta-analysis, researchers identified that the mortality risk due to social isolation was similar to the risk related to alcohol use, cigarette smoking and that it is greater than the risk imposed due to a sedentary lifestyle or obesity.

Maintaining good interaction with one another is important, within social distancing guidelines of course. Virtual coffee meetings, 1-1s and check ins are a simple way to do this.

Host team, divisional or group social gatherings, organise online social events, quizzes or gaming competitions to keep spirits high.

6. Financial Wellness

These are challenging times financially for businesses and employees. Research has shown that most people do not have enough savings to get them through two months. Providing virtual financial advice sessions, online savings tools/apps and continuing to highlight state supports is important.

If you need to lay people off or cut wages, provide employees with information to get the support they need. Continue to check in on employees who disengage. Research has shown us that financial stress is one of the main contributors to stress and anxiety and another reason why communications internally are especially important for employees who are worried about their finances.

7. Physical Wellness

There is a plethora of wellness vendors, exercise coaches and nutritionists putting business aside and offering their services pro bono or at discounted rates to employees during this time. As a leader you have an opportunity to encourage your employees to take part in maintaining good physical health – because healthy living matters to employees. In a survey of 2,000 people, the top three New Year’s Resolutions all have to do with physical health and well-being. Respondents said they wanted to eat healthier, exercise more and lose weight. And few things will win more points with your employees than helping them achieve their personal goals.

On top of that, unhealthy employees can get pretty expensive for their employers. One study found that employees in poor physical health accumulate healthcare expenses more than three times greater than their healthy co-workers.

Any way you look at it, physical wellness will lead to healthier, happier, more productive employees.

Where possible, a simple recommendation is for organisations to support employee physical wellness by encouraging regular breaks, exercise outside, sleep hygiene and following healthy nutrition guidelines. This might be a good time for light-hearted physical challenges or competitions.

8. Emotional Wellness

Our resilience is being put to the test. Worry, anxiety and stress are at an all-time high. Providing your employees and managers with resilience or mindfulness training is a simple way of helping to boost your staff’s emotional wellness.

Campaigns that promote your EAP (Employee Assistance Program) services and a stigma-free workforce will help alleviate stress, particularly for those concerned about their jobs or loved ones. Aside from educating and informing employees of the services and supports afforded to them, taking a multi-dimensional or a-typical approach will indirectly help to support their mental and emotional wellness.

Managing your and your employees’ mental and emotional wellness is important now more than ever before.

To further discuss how you may be able to engage your employees through wellness, feel free to email me or go ahead and book a 15-minute free consultation directly by clicking here. I look forward to discussing your and your organisation’s requirements and challenges, and to working with you to navigate this time with ease, clarity and confidence.

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