How Employers Can Prioritise Mental Wellbeing Remotely
Over the last few months of lockdown and physical distancing measures, the working landscape in scores of industries has changed dramatically - and potentially permanently. Four in ten of the UK workforce have left their offices to work from home in the current crisis, and in doing so, have faced unprecedented challenges both as individuals and as part of a wider organisation.
Even before lockdown, the CIPD Good Work Index reported that work was having a negative impact on the wellbeing of many employees, with 22% feeling exhausted, 21% under excessive pressure and 11% feeling miserable. The human impact of this in-work stress is profound, but it also has a financial cost for businesses, with poor mental health within an organisation and lack of support cutting staff productivity (defined by turnover per employee) by an average of 24.5%.
Unfortunately, faced with the unique stresses of living through a pandemic, this picture hasn’t improved in recent months. While it isn’t necessarily just being out of the office which has added mental strain to employees (in many cases, it may not have contributed at all), research published by Qualtrics last week found that just under half (47%) of the UK workforce surveyed has suffered a decline in their mental health while working from home.
Working from Home
In many ways, it appears that workers prefer home working. A Buffer study has suggested that 99% of workers would like to work remotely, for at least some of the time, for the rest of their career - indicating that there are advantages which they would like to continue once the coronavirus crisis has passed. One particular motivation for young people is the ability to work from anywhere in the country, with those in London in particular feeling held to ransom by the cost of renting a property.
However, according to the same study, there were some downsides to working from home:
- 22% of people struggle to get a good life/remote work balance
- 19% of remote work employees find working from home to be lonely
- 17% of people who remotely work struggle with collaboration or communication
- 10% of homeworkers find it very difficult to avoid distractions
- 8% simply struggle to stay motivated
These challenges, alongside the fact that many people are living with more anxiety, and employers may be finding it difficult to apply corporate wellbeing policies (both due to constricted cash flow and sheer logistics) are combining to create something of a perfect storm. It’s therefore unsurprising that employees’ mental health is under additional strain - but what can employers do to help?
Remote Corporate Wellbeing
Maintaining corporate wellbeing for your employees as they work from home needn’t be difficult or expensive, you simply have to transfer the good working practices advised in an office setting to remote working. These practices include:
Keeping good communication
Perhaps the most important thing in maintaining employee wellbeing (and as a result of this, their productivity) while they are working remotely is to keep lines of communication open. Resources from Slack to Google Docs can help teams work collaboratively and communicate with each other even when they are miles apart, providing a sense of support and continuity.
If possible, try to schedule in a short meeting with your team every morning just to catch up with who’s doing what, how everyone’s getting on and simply to see each other's faces. This goes a long way before in coordinating workload while also fostering the connection needed between team members.
It’s also important not to neglect review meetings and one-to-ones with your employees. In the current circumstances, they may feel unable to discuss issues which have been bothering them - perhaps too embarrassed to request a video call in these stressful times. Make a point of connecting with all your team members individually, just to see if there’s anything they need help with.
Applying office hours and break times
One of the issues with working from home is that many people have found work seeping into their home life in both obvious and less tangible ways. Some have found they are working more hours than ever, others can only get their work finished at unsociable times. This is partly due to sheer logistics - having small children at home during lockdown has been extremely challenging for many - but it has also come about simply through the lack of demarcation between “work” and “home”.
You can offer flexibility to your employees who need it (for example, if they are caring for children) while still creating a framework and routine which ensures people maintain a good work/life balance. Discourage unofficial overtime, working wildly irregular hours and make sure all your employees take breaks throughout the day.
Once again, technology can be a great tool to help you achieve this aim. If the working day is eight hours, you can suggest your team uses a time tracking tool such as Toggl or Clockify so they can pause the clock when they are interrupted. This gives them a far more accurate idea of how many hours they’ve put in, rather than guessing and overworking in their spare time to make up what they imagine to be the shortfall.
Encouraging meditation and self-care
Working from home doesn’t mean employees can’t enjoy corporate wellbeing perks, such as remote meditation classes - in fact, in these particularly stressful circumstances, self-care tools like meditation have become more important than ever.
Whether it’s giving people the option to take part in a daily group meditation or visualisation exercise, teaching meditation remotely through a wellbeing officer or subsidizing certain self-care activities, you can support your staff with evidence-based techniques that promote focus and calm.
Here at Beeja, we have recently transitioned many of our courses online, and can discuss tailored corporate wellbeing options that are designed to suit the needs of your organisation. Simply follow the link below to find out more.