The conversation about mental health is never an easy one. In the COVID-19 era, these conversations can no longer be ignored as organizations must grapple with re-integrating employees into the workplace after an extended period of remote work and social isolation. Organizations that support the emotional well-being of their employees are more likely to see improvements in employee engagement, productivity, recruitment, and retention.

 Although mental health is characterized by good behavioral adjustment and an ability to cope with the day-to-day demands and stresses of life relatively free from anxiety, people often conflate it with more serious mental disorders or illnesses. Therefore, communicating about it to the employees in more neutral terms such as “emotional well-being” might help to remove some of the negativity and the blocks associated with the expression “mental health.”

 Following are some strategies and tactics that organizations might find useful in enhancing employee emotional well-being.

1. Tailoring employee communication to the needs and styles of the employees—The best health policies and programs will be rendered useless if the employees are unaware about it. The employees of an organization are not a homogenous group; and therefore, strategies that are broadly tailored can be ineffective in addressing their emotional well-being. Segmenting the employees by demographic characteristics like age, gender, race, sexual orientation, and SES (Socio-Economic Status) might prove to be more effective in facilitating conversations about emotional well-being. For instance, Millennials and Gen Zs with the highest turnover rate are also the most likely to talk about emotional well-being at work. Creating a webpage on the Intranet that lists useful information and resources about emotional well-being is a good starting place to organize information for different demographic groups of the employees. Both the PR and the HR department would need to collaborate to make the resources public and accessible.
2. Creating resources for emotional support that can be accessed privately or anonymously— Talking about one’s emotional well-being is an extremely private matter and most people, understandably so, would be unwilling to discuss it within the organizational setting. Employers might consider engaging certified counsellors or coaches from reputed organizations to provide support in an anonymous manner. This would encourage more employees to seek advice in a timely manner.  This could be a stand-alone initiative or a part of the employee wellness program or employee health benefits plan.
3. Increasing investments in wellness programs that promote holistic well-being— Initiatives such as mental health days or week at work are effective in raising awareness about emotional issues that employees face at work. Organizations should consider investing in additional resources for enhancing emotional-well-being, such as creation of clubs for the pursuit of sports or hobbies. This can have two-fold advantage—first, the employees can channel their unexpressed emotions into their interests such as biking, hiking, volleyball, gardening, dancing, yoga, meditation, painting etc. and transmute it into positive emotions and outcomes; second, when people connect with their colleagues through other ways besides their work, it will change the dynamics of the relationship and bring positivity even in their professional interactions. Instituting changes in organizational policy that provides extra-paid time off or yearly paid family vacation will also help to promote emotional well-being. It would also be advantageous to explore unique solutions based on the nature and type of the organization to provide support that improves positivity at work.
4. Identifying and minimizing common stressors—The pandemic has brought to the surface issues of emotional well-being at work, which were otherwise overlooked or dismissed. Emerging evidence on the effects of COVID-19 on people’s emotional well-being suggests that employees need coping resources to deal with four common stressors related to: (i) Personal; (ii) Financial; (iii) Social; and (iv) National situations to lead a more stress-free life. Stressors related to personal circumstances elicit anxieties and stress from the likelihood of being infected, being hospitalised or the possibility of infecting loved ones or in rare cases of dying; stressors related to one’s financial situation cause worry about an individual’s financial stability both in the short and the long term; for instance, housing rent/mortgage payments in the event one partner has lost his/her job, This, of course, will differ based on the socio-economic position and the sectors/industry in which they are employed; the third group of stressors as it relates to the social situation create anxiety about the health and safety needs of children and elderly parents for whom the employees might be responsible; and the fourth group of stressors relates to the economy of their country, vis-à-vis the inflation rates, unemployment rates, travel restrictions, vaccination status, housing market etc. Organizations based on their financial position may be able to alleviate some of the anxiety or stress related to the personal, financial and social stressors at least temporarily by providing some financial support for child care, rent payment, student loan repayment, tuition reimbursement, providing assistance in planning for financial security, or providing more flexible work hours, reassigning responsibilities and roles etc.  These are some suggestions and are not meant to be exhaustive.
5. Role of Leadership—The top leadership within an organization play an important role in how an organization handles matters of employee emotional well-being as they are the ones who influence and shape policies. It is becoming imperative that they begin prioritizing emotional well-being of their employees, not only from an empathetic perspective but also from a business perspective. According to one estimate millions of workdays and billions of dollars are lost in productivity due to mental health issues. Efforts should be made to create cohesiveness and a sense of community within the employees to improve the workplace environment. When employees feel valued, are given autonomy, that is, a sense of control, experience a sense of optimism and have access to social support, it builds resiliency in them and assists them in successfully coping with the stressors. The top management should ensure that these coping resources are provided to the employees to improve their emotional well-being. Everyone in the organization–top management, middle managers, supervisors and all the other staff and employees–can also benefit from training in mindfulness. Most people are facing some challenge in their lives related to the pandemic, which makes them more sensitive their environment. Little gestures of kindness can create positivity in the work environment helping to improve the emotional well-being of both the givers and receivers. Research into pro-social behavior suggests that small and even insignificant acts of kindness had the power to increase the levels of job satisfaction as it made the givers feel more in control at work. An important point to note, however, is that the gesture should be genuine in its intent.

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