How to Support Staff Mental Health when Working from Home

Since last year we are living in uncertain times. And the steep rising of Covid-19 cases has put a big question mark on whether or not to reopen economies and businesses. The economy is constantly falling behind and we don’t know what’s going to happen next. And all these scenarios are putting a lot of pressure on our mental health, including our work. Even it’s leading to short-term mental health impact as well as long-term effects. Many studies are claiming that these short-term mental and long-term effects can really lead to an adverse effect and even beyond.

As we are going to cross various situations in the coming months and years, leaders are likely to see employees struggling with anxiety, anger, depression, trauma, etc. It’s very important that organizations are already conscious of the potential mental ill-health of the employees and aware of what to do to handle the situation and how to support the teams.

We will be discussing some of the steps which managers and leaders can do to face the stress, anxiety, ill-mental health of the employees. Here’s our advice.

1. Have Proper Communication

Lockdown has changed the way of communication we used to do before. Previously, we can consult with the managers by just walking few steps inside the office premises. But, now our communication has just dwindled as the lockdowns are on and we have to option to go to the office, rather than getting used to working from home.

In these scenarios keeping timely regular contact with the remote workers is a very important step that must be implemented by the leaders and the managers of an organization. This will help to avoid feelings of isolation and loneliness during work. As well as proper communication also helps the employees to perform the tasks smoothly without getting frustrated. It’s a good way to make sure that your workers are well and working without any stress. You must try to establish a communication where employees feel heard, try to figure out why they are getting stressed and what is the reason for the struggle for that particular work.

Try sometimes to be a bit personal than being professional. This will help the employees to create a comfort zone and they might open up with the problems they are facing. As we are not in front of anyone and we cannot read anyone’s face or expressions so being informal sometimes will really help leaders and managers establishing good communication.

2. Bring back the Office Perks

In the office, business owners and board of directors spent a lot of time understanding how their employees will be affected by the office environment that will in return affect their productivity. It means they are creating office perks to encourage a friendly as well as productive environment, but in the present situation of lockdown, this option is no more in action.

But companies and organizations should try to continue to boost staff morale by finding alternate ways to continue those perks of the office.

Internet Service – Nowadays, most of the offices have fast internet speeds to manage the work within the work span of eight hours a day. But it’s not possible in the case of work from home. Everyone doesn’t have high-speed internet/wifi at home. You should try to help your employees who are facing trouble with a home internet connection by providing internet fees to upgrade their connection. This will help them to wrap up their work smoothly within the time without dragging their shift beyond working hours.

Office games – Many offices have indoor and outdoor games for recreation. This helps the employees to refresh their minds by taking a break during work. But work from home doesn’t have the scope to enjoy the office games. But leaders and managers can still conduct games like scrabble, photo contests, and even chess online.

3. Encourage and share Good News

As we all are locked at home, we are more often watching the news and are connected to the news cycle which is filled up with negative news. And as we are constantly checking news and going through them a negative impact is affecting us. Many of the workers are also getting badly affected by this news. This is leading to mental trauma and impacts on their productivity. In worst scenarios, some might develop insomnia due to excessive thinking about the negative things that are going throughout the world.

To combat this, companies must try to encourage them and must try to convey some good news on a regular basis as much as possible. News like many workers are being layered off, many have been terminated due to the pandemic creates a tension that this same case might happen to them. Leaders and managers must try to comfort them that your industry is not going to do that and their jobs are safe.

 

Thank you for reading the article. I hope it was well informed. If you want any more information about job tools, feel free to contact us. Team SyaRose will be happy to help you and make your work easier. It will be our immense pleasure if you give your valuable feedback in the comment section. Please share this article with your loved ones and professional circle if you like it.

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