The COVID-19 pandemic, left many of us working from home for months, and created many problems in our home and work lives, which also saw our well-being suffer.
Recent research conducted by Oracle and Workplace Intelligence found that 2020 was the most stressful year people have ever experienced in their working lives.
Seventy-eight percent of the workers surveyed said that the pandemic had negatively affected their mental health, while 76% of people indicated that companies should be doing more to protect workers’ mental health.
So, how can organisations help employee wellness?
Model wellness to your team.
As a leader, it’s crucial to first model company values and then preach it second. If you clearly show your team that you’re putting wellness higher on your priorities, then that sets the standard, and they’re more likely to follow too.
In practice, this could mean being open about certain calendar blocks being booked for taking time out and disconnecting, actually using your vacation days, or even just recommending a few great books you’ve read on your downtime.
Introduce a bookend to each workday.
When working remotely, the lack of a distinct beginning and end to the workday blurs the line between home and work life, which can often lead to overworking and burnout.
A solution could be having casual morning conversations before beginning the workday, doing a team activity like meditation before starting the workday, or having the occasional end-of-day happy hours.
Monitor workloads.
An obvious concern for employee wellbeing is them being overworked and overstressed. It’s crucial to not only monitor how much work employees are taking on but to also communicate with them to see how they’re handling their workload.
There may be things happening in their personal lives that they haven’t openly spoken about, which is making it difficult to stay up with their work. By identifying and remedying these sorts of situations, you can protect employee wellness and prevent burnout.