The workplace has always had its challenges—deadlines, pivots, changes, and growth are all inevitable. The addition of a pandemic has added a nearly immeasurable amount of stress to nearly every employee, across every industry, around the world. So how do we encourage a culture of resilience in the workplace? What responsibility do we have to give employees a robust toolkit for mental fitness strategies to cope with whatever comes next? By offering employees an array of benefits that assist with physical, mental, and emotional well-being, we can help our workforce thrive.
The time for cultivating resilience and inner strength in the workplace is now—so while ideally, your benefits support a proactive approach, some reactive measures may also be necessary. We’ve compiled a few best practices for embracing a culture that offers employees and teams the opportunity to access the well-being tools they need to deal with a changing global climate.
Encourage community and connection
At a time when social distancing is essential, most workplaces have allowed for remote or distance work, wherever possible. In doing so, workplace culture has been forced to shift. If a remote work culture wasn’t previously available, there are likely many learnings coming to light in terms of how to cultivate connection and community out of the office. Without team off-sites, in-person all-hands meetings, or even a shared lunch space, face-to-face interactions take on a new meaning—as well as added importance.
Consider how you can offer employees chances to collaborate and bond digitally. Encourage managers to work with their teams to understand how much connection—and in what ways—their teams prefer. Conferencing and video chats are popular ways to keep your workforce connected, but they come with downsides. For employees onboarding during this time, consider how to make a new hire feel included from afar.
Give space for change
Employees are juggling more than ever before—it’s nearly impossible to continue ‘business as usual’ given external and environmental stressors at the moment. Whether this means changes and flexibility in working hours, PTO, or allowances for work from home equipment, adapting to current challenges of your workforce will give more space for success. Many companies have considered re-thinking performance reviews or defining what success looks like in the time of a pandemic. If your company is thinking about adjusting targets or expectations, be sure to communicate this explicitly so everyone is on the same page.
Offer comprehensive mental well-being resources
Take stock of your employee well-being programs. Offering high-quality, accessible options for employees in the realm of mental fitness and inner strength is essential. For example, tools like Calm offer a comprehensive mental well-being experience, with a digital content library as diverse as your workforce. With access to guided meditations, adult (and child-friendly) Sleep Stories, soothing playlists, masterclasses with field experts, and more, employees can pick and choose what they need, when they need it.
Establish clear channels for communication and feedback
Lastly, and most importantly, listen to your team. There is no playbook for supporting employees through a pandemic. The best we can do is offer a robust set of resources, learn from our experiences, and elicit feedback from employees. Consider implementing regular surveys, check-ins, or polls to understand the impact and success of your offerings. Ensure any benefits you’re offering have clear metrics for success as well.
A culture of resilience in the workplace means cultivating the capability to cope with difficulties—in the office and beyond. Learn more about how Calm for Business can help you build a happier, healthier, workforce.
