It’s Time To Unleash The Resiliator Within

The challenge

Employees are looking for ways their current and future employers are prioritizing mental health.

A PAN Communications survey revealed that 77% of employees searching for new opportunities wanted to work for a company that prioritises mental health initiatives and overall wellbeing. 

The Future of Work 20210 Global Outlook report from Monster cited one of the top three policies employees want to see change are “health policies/protocols.”

Deloitte found that well-being was the top-ranked trend for importance in their 2020 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends study, with 80% of their 9,000 survey respondents identifying it as important or very important to their organization’s success. 

In the Metlife Employee Benefits Trend Study 2021, 32% of employees said that managers are not ready to have conversations about wellbeing and are not prepared to ensure the overall well-being of direct reports. 37% said managers are not prepared to support employees with stress, burnout, and other mental health issues.  

Robert Hicks, Group HR Director at Reward Gateway, in a March 2021 podcast said, “Wellbeing will remain a huge player in the benefits game moving forward. A company’s wellbeing offering is likely to be the number one question candidates ask prospective employers or research ahead of interview. Firms that do well at wellbeing well will see talent stay and join. Those that don’t, will struggle”.

Employees are in the driving seat. They have proved that they can work from anywhere and now have a choice of employer that is not limited by geography.

If you want to retain your talent, you must be an employer of choice. You must state and demonstrate that employee wellbeing is at the centre of all that you do.

The situation

In addition to identifying the relationship between good employee wellbeing and positive organisational performance, the 2021 Global Wellbeing Report from Aon revealed that:

·       28 % of employees are having difficulty concentrating at work

·       20% take longer to complete their work

·       15% have trouble thinking, reasoning, or deciding

·       42% of employees had experienced a decline in their mental health since the pandemic started.

The Peakon report Supporting Employee Health and Wellbeing in the Wake of COVID-19 states that while 96% of companies around the world have provided some form of additional mental health resources during the pandemic, only one in six employees feel supported.  Only 16% feel their employer is supporting them.

46% of respondents to the Monster global survey The Future of Work 2021 said that they have experienced job-related anxiety and/or depression.

This is the reason why mental wellbeing support is a priority for employees when deciding to stay with their current employer and should be a priority for you.

This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reinvent your approach to employee health and wellbeing.

The approach

While employee assistance programs (EAPs) have long been standard components of benefits packages, you need to take a radically different approach to supporting the wellbeing of your employees today if you are going to retain and attract talent.

If you want to retain your talent in this highly competitive market, you will have to work hard to differentiate yourself. High-salary jobs are no longer enough for the job seeker. You must embrace the whole employee experience that has well-being at its core.

You must put in place a program for employee mental wellbeing that is:

·       Considered

·       Comprehensive

·       Contextual

·       Congruous

·       Continual

Considered

Most wellbeing programs address the effect of stress, anxiety, fatigue, and burnout in the workplace but fail to address the cause.

At the foundation of everything you do should be the removal of the stigma around mental health issues in the workplace.

You can provide all the programs, resources, and tools you like to address mental health issue, but the fact is that your employees will not reach out and use them if they fear a negative view or attitude towards them. Many employees believe they will be discriminated against or harassed if they reveal they have a mental health concern.

Removal of the stigma must be accompanied with the creation of an environment of psychological safety which allows an employee to be themselves, express their feelings and concerns, without fear of negative consequences. Psychological safety replaces fear with respect and permission.

A recent McKinsey survey revealed only 30 percent of employees say they feel comfortable talking to their manager about their mental health.  

Employers must:

·       visibly commit to a mental health policy and make employees feel more comfortable to discuss and better manage their own health

·       build mental health awareness throughout the organisation

·       encourage open and honest conversations

·       provide an open and supportive workplace culture

·       help employees manage work and life

·       train managers

The latter must be one of the most important actions you can take.

In the Metlife study, managers said they wanted training and support to help their direct report thrive through any challenge. They said:

“I feel my leadership should help me…

• train and upskill employees (70%)

• improve people management, development, coaching skills and conflict resolution (70%)

• point employees to the right solutions and programs available to them (69%)

• manage direct reports’ work-life balance (69%)

• support direct reports’ overall health and wellbeing (69%)

Managers want to help their employees but need the development and training to do so effectively.

Today’s work environment is subject to constant, uncertain, unprecedented, and disruptive change. The next big disruption may not be a pandemic, but I assure you it is right around the corner, and you won’t see it coming.

You must take steps to help your employees withstand whatever is coming next. You must invest in building a resilient workforce. You must take intentional action to maintain holistic well-being through employee resilience.

Resilience helps employees confront change, unknowns, and uncertainties in the workplace. Resilient employees are adaptable, they embrace setbacks as learning opportunities, and welcome new challenges.

Comprehensive

A solid program for mental wellbeing and resilience in the workplace needs to be comprehensive and holistic.

Many employers claim they are concerned about the mental health of their employees, but their actions do not support their assertions.

They invest in point solutions. You do not want to be one of those employers.

Let me explain why.

A point solution is an investment in a particular tool, product, or service without regard to related issues, needs and dependencies.

Alone, they do not work. They are too narrow and shallow.

They are often the ‘shiny new thing’ and seen as a panacea for all issues related to mental wellbeing at work.

Point solutions include wearable technology that allows you to indicate whether you are happy or sad. The data is binary and has no real value. What insight is it supposed to provide to managers and what are they to do with the data? Managers should be asking how their employees feel and not abdicating that responsibility to technology.

The provision of mental health first-aiders is a great initiative but unless you have removed the stigma around discussing mental health issues, employees will not engage with them.

Yoga classes on a Friday and mindfulness lessons on a Monday are point solutions that unless part of a larger program of work, have little value in the fight against mental health issues at work. You cannot yoga your way out of burnout!

Employers invest in point solutions when they fail to see employee mental health as a priority against other business demands. They take a reactive approach to mental wellbeing rather than a proactive and preventative approach

They make the dangerous assumption that a point solution will suffice and in turn be public testament that they really care.

If you are truly committed to looking after the mental wellbeing of your people, you will create an ecosystem.

What you need, is what I have termed the 10 I’s – or X I’s – that comprise the eco-system needed to effectively address mental health issues in your workplace.

These are interceptions, information, instruction, individualization, indications, interventions, integrations, improvements, immunity and illimitable. You can read more about the XI eco-system in my white paper.

Contextual

Resources for overcoming stress, anxiety, fatigue and building resilience must be contextual.

When the struggle to solve a complex problem is diminishing my resilience, I need collaboration, communication, and problem-solving skills – not a yoga session on a Friday morning.

When my resilience is diminished due to a setback, I need self-efficacy and reframing skills – not Monday morning meditation and reflection.

When feeling overwhelmed with stress and unable to make a rational decision, I need emotional intelligence skills and the ability to regulate my emotions – not a lesson in mindfulness.

Your employees need access to support and resources that address the specific issues they are dealing with at any given point in time.

Congruous

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to mental health at work. Everyone is different with different needs and wants.

Your program must have support and resources that meet the needs of your workforce. You find out what your employees need by asking them. You might not be able to meet the preferences of every individual, but you can ensure you are addressing the needs of most.

Your provisioning must be congruous with your workforce. Not everyone enjoys yoga or going to the gym, meditation, or mindfulness.

People have different learning styles and the same applies to learning how to be more resilient. Some people prefer visual, auditory, or kinesthetic styles of learning. These factors must be considered in your mental health program.

Continual

Resilience is like any muscle; it requires practice to get stronger. Building real workforce resilience is a continual process built into the DNA of the organisation – not something bolted on as an afterthought.

Leaders must embed the practice of increasing resilience into the day-to-day activities of every team and every team member.

Resilience is not created with a one-off event or activity.

Resilience is a continual process of education, learning, development, and access to supporting resources.

As the world around you changes, so must your approach to the mental wellbeing of your employees. This is an ongoing program not a project.

The answer

It is time to unleash the resiliator within all your employees with a considered, comprehensive, contextual, congruous, and continual program or work.

Watch my explainer animation and then get in touch.

Together we can stop the great resignation. Can you afford not to?