How Employers Can Uplift Employees During a Time of Stress

We recently discussed how important it is for employers to keep employees engaged and up to date during the COVID-19 pandemic. There’s something else employers need to do right now: help their people mentally, emotionally, and physically.

The pandemic is taking an enormous toll on the emotional and mental well-being of people who are hunkered down in their homes managing their professional and personal lives. Suddenly they’re dealing with multiple sources of stress: the possibility of catching the virus, the possibility of being furloughed or laid off, and life under extreme confinement (sometimes with children at home with schools closed down) – to name just a few.

Employers can play a valuable role uplifting their own people. As I discussed in my last blog post, an employer is a critical source of information about COVID-19 right now. Employees who might have ignored company emails in the past are paying very close attention to them now. They are, putting it mildly, highly engaged. Employers can capitalize on that engagement in a number of ways, such as:

Share Online Sources of Mindfulness

Apps and online resources are proliferating to help people mediate, achieve calm, find relief from depression, and find inspiration. For instance, the City of New York has published a directory of apps that are free during the COVID-19 pandemic. But employees are getting bombarded right now with information. They might need help finding useful resources. You can do that with a simple email.

Offer Online Wellness Events

A number of businesses are hosting online wellness events. It might be appropriate to offer some of these at the office level depending on how large you want to make them. For instance, virtual happy hours to celebrate employee achievements (or to simply celebrate employees, period) are popping up all over. More ideas include:

Live Performances

Consider using socials such as Facebook and Instagram Live to offer entertaining content such as musical performances and DJ sessions. Many DJs are already taking to Instagram to offer spin sessions to make ends meet. Consider hiring one to do a performance.

Exercise

If your company offers webcasting to employees, consider the possibilities for enriching their lives through events such as online yoga breaks and sessions with nutrition specialists. As employees work at home, it’s inevitable that snacking increases. Some employees have the option of getting exercise outside. Others do not. Help as many employees as you can by offering instructional tips for healthier living.

Employee Participation

Get your employees involved in sharing of themselves on social. At IDX, we recently featured different at-home work spaces on Instagram. Other ideas include inviting employees to share photos of themselves in their favorite work-from-home dress styles, photos of their pets, or inspirational messages. Note that take-your-kids-to-work day is coming up April 23. How might you honor that event by getting your employees to share what it means to “take your kids to work” when home is the workplace? A bit of levity helps during hard times.

Managers: Be Mindful

In addition, now is the time for managers to nurture and support employees. At the individual level:

• Check in more often with a simple “How are you doing?” And when you ask, be prepared to listen. A lot.

• Be patient with team members as they endure extreme stress. Cut them more slack.

• Mind your tone even as you are under stress.

• Show appreciation and empathy.