Covid Awareness

TAKING CARE OF YOUR COWORKERS AND EMPLOYEES’ MENTAL HEALTH DURING LOCKDOWN

"It is actually more important today for organizations to pay close attention to the health and well-being of all their workers than it was 50 years ago" -Peter Drucker.

Mr. Drucker's worst nightmares are coming true, but before we go there, let's get nostalgic.

We are in 2019. The economy is booming, stock prices are higher than they have ever been, company stocks are shooting up every morning, creating new stock millionaires by thousands. China has a few ill people but they will probably take care of themselves and never in a million years be able to harm you, in your comfortable job amidst New Delhi smog, right? Well, it did, and that too in a  drastic manner.

The COVID pandemic is strange and has taken the world by storm. Most prolific biologists and world leaders have never seen anything like this before, which probably means neither have your bosses, employees, and coworkers. No matter what your actual position within the organization is, you can find a way for yourself to lead people through the crisis. Under such dire circumstances, it should be you, the superhero of your tale, who takes it upon themselves to ensure that the people they work with are able to ride out these chaotic and desolate times with ease.

As good superhero sidekicks, there is a small list of simple steps you can take.

1. Be calm and collected.  This one simple piece of advice includes not to be stressed enough upon. The world is on fire and everyone is confused. The need for people who can transcend their immediate anxieties and provide a stable beacon through the fog, proverbially speaking, has never been higher. Collect yourself and try to ground your team so that they are able to revise their plans to best suit the present scenario.
2.Talk to people. Absence of communication is bound to scare your employees and coworkers, bringing down the overall quality of their work and, more importantly, their mental health. If you are in a managerial position, be relentlessly transparent, letting employees know exactly what the organization is going through in terms of strategy and finance. If you are not, try to get your coworkers to communicate their fears and anxieties with each other and your seniors.

3.Implementation Intention. Once you are calm and are back to communicating regularly, it is crucial to formulate an “if-then” plan, also known as an Implementation Intention. If most financial analysts are to be trusted, things are going to get worse and more stressful. Having a premeditated response strategy is going to facilitate much needed emotional regulation among your team members. Butler et. al.’s (2015) study of Implementation Intention highlighted an exponential improvement in emotional regulation, as the Implementation Intention was made more intensive. Use this to gain an enviable competitive edge for your organization.
4. Be empathetic. There is a barely curable novel virus out in the open that you can get from even those who are apparently healthy. Major corporations and powerful nations have been rendered practically helpless. Under such circumstances, it is only human to be anxious, to be unable to focus on work, and to be unmotivated. It would serve us well to empathize with the mental states of those we work with. As long as possible, keep them feeling secure and safe, without being too demanding and without seeing their anxieties as a weakness. Moderate your chiding, if it is absolutely necessary. Creating a safe space will help your organization’s morale in the long term. Once morale is high, profit will follow.
5.Finally, if you run a business, help your employees financially. Businesses are going through a lot of problems, and most businesses under lockdown are barely able to break even after paying rent and electricity bills. Cash is king in a time when even essentials such as food might pose financial stress to your employees. Emotional leadership is essentially useless if your employees need to borrow money to have their daily needs met. As a leader, try to cut your expenses wherever possible, in order to keep paying out salaries as long as possible. Businesses in these times can either lose all credibility or earn the absolute loyalty of their employees based on how well they are able to care for them. Ensure that your business falls in the latter category.

These five simple steps, if performed to a good enough extent, are sure to boost your coworkers’ and employees’ productivity and morale. We get that even a superhero such as you can be scared and anxious about the absolute chaos that surrounds us all, but hard times like these are when leaders are chiselled out of laymen. It is up to you to prove your mettle and come out of the global crisis proud of the actions you took when even important political figures across the globe went into hiding, unable to bear the strain of reality.