How can managers cope with the impact of Covid-19 on employees and the workplace?

LET’S LOOK AT MENTAL-HEALTH, WHAT IS IT?

Mental health includes emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and behave. It also impacts on how we handle stress, relate to others and make choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence to adulthood.

Covid-19 puts a lot of pressure on both physical and mental health and it can lead to feelings of loss, including loss of contact with loved ones; relationships; loss of routine; loss of life as we have known it. Depending on the intensity of these loss feelings, employees may experience grief which can have a huge impact on their daily functioning. Grief is a natural response to loss. It is the emotional suffering an individual experiences when something or someone that is loved is taken away.

Often, the pain of loss can be overwhelming. These individuals may experience all kinds of difficult and unexpected emotions, for example, shock, anger, disbelief, guilt and profound sadness. The pain associated with grief can also disrupt physical health, making it difficult to sleep, eat, or even think straight. These are normal reactions to loss – and the more significant the loss, the more intense the individual’s experience of grief will be.

Although grief is a natural outcome of loss, there might be individuals that are unable to work through the five stages of grief themselves and might, therefore, need professional help.

THE KÜBLER-ROSS MODEL: THE FIVE STAGES OF GRIEF

Denial: “This can’t be happening to me.”
Anger: “Why is this happening? Who is to blame?”

Bargaining: “Make this not happen, and in return I will ____.”

Depression: “I’m too sad to do anything.” Acceptance: “I’m at peace with what happened.”

Managers have a role to play in supporting employees who experience these feelings of loss and grief.

WHEN IS IT NECESSARY TO REFER AN EMPLOYEE FOR PROFESSIONAL HELP:

Although grief is a natural outcome of loss, there might be individuals that are unable to work through the five stages of grief themselves and might therefore need professional help. It is essential that managers have the skills to identify these employees in order to assist them. Key identifiers can include:

• Withdrawal from meetings and activities, for example when employees frequently use excuses like a lack of or poor online connectivity, parental duties, etc. when absent from important work events
• Struggling or finding it hard to control their emotions during interactions
• Poor or reduced job performance
• Pessimism, for example where these employees experience an inability to see the “silver lining” of a situation

If any of your employees show any of these symptoms, please refer them for professional help.

WHAT CAN MANAGERS DO?

On a Strategic level:

• Leadership must be aligned and communicate the same message to all employees
• Keep focus on the bigger picture whilst acknowledging and addressing the current crisis
• Redefine and realign the business strategy

In the shorter term:

• Communicate, communicate, communicate
• Leading with “care” 
• Creating safety through routine
• Having meaningful conversations with employees
• Refocus business practices

Let us have a look at each of these:

Communication:

The impact of insufficient communicating is evident in the actions of Pres. Cyril Ramaphosa during the lockdown period. In the beginning of the lockdown, the president communicated with the nation on a weekly basis. Although it was a difficult time, everyone knew what to expect, which made it a bit easier. Thereafter, the president failed to communicate with the nation for almost three weeks. During that time, the wheels came off. Conspiracy theories made their appearance and people were unhappy and unsettled. There is a valuable lesson to learn from this. Managers should ensure that they constantly and continuously communicate with employees. Some guidelines include:

• Now, more than ever, it is imperative that managers have effective communication skills
• Communicate facts, data, business continuity strategy, etc. to employees
• Make numerous channels of communication available to employees
• Be aware of the impact of current restrictions on communication, for example wearing masks, social distancing, etc.

Leading with care:

People need to feel safe to share their true feelings without worrying about being condemned. Empathy is an essential skill for managers to have in this instance. Empathy entails:

The ability to step into the shoes of another person, aiming to understand their feelings and perspectives, and to use that understanding to guide actions. That is what makes empathy different from kindness or pity.

Kinds of empathy:

Three kinds of empathy, namely cognitive, emotional and compassionate empathy will be explored/explained:

Cognitive Empathy

Cognitive empathy is defined as “simply knowing how the other person feels and what they might be thinking. Sometimes called perspective-taking” (Daniel Goleman)

What it is concerned with: Thought, understanding and intellect

Benefits: Helps in negotiations, motivating other people, understanding diverse viewpoints and is ideal for virtual meetings

Pitfalls: Can result in a disconnection from or disregard of deep emotions and does not “put you in another’s shoes” in a felt sense.

Emotional Empathy

Emotional empathy is defined as “when you feel physically along with the other person, as though their emotions were contagious” (Daniel Goleman)

What it is concerned with: feelings, physical sensation and mirroring neurons in the brain.

Benefits: Helps in close interpersonal relationships and careers like coaching, marketing, management and Human Resources

Pitfalls: Can be overwhelming or inappropriate in certain circumstances

Compassionate Empathy

Compassionate empathy is defined as “not only understand a person’s predicament and feel with them, but are spontaneously moved to help, if needed” (Daniel Goleman)

What it is concerned with: Intellect, emotion and action

Benefits: Considers the whole person

Pitfalls: Few – this is the type of empathy that individuals are usually striving for!

Can you learn empathy as an adult? Yes! A recent study published in the Journal of Counselling Psychology shows that empathy training is effective for adults.

CREATING SAFETY THROUGH ROUTINE

Humans like routine and rituals. In general, we like to know what to expect because it makes us feel safe. If you and your team use to have coffee in the morning before starting with your daily duties, keep on doing it. Perhaps meet on an online platform and have a cup of coffee together. Try and keep as many of the “normal” rituals and routines in place as possible.

HAVING MEANINGFUL CONVERSATIONS WITH EMPLOYEES

Creating platforms to firstly create awareness and then talking about issues without the fear of discrimination and stigma will be critical to ensure the mental health of employees.

The following can be used as helpful guidelines:

The theme of "togetherness" in this pandemic is of great importance

• Discuss scenarios where the team experiences togetherness
• How does the team plan to work together on this?

• Be honest about your own feelings, frustrations, emotions, etc.
• Ask for regular feedback in terms of communication platforms, times of meetings, etc.
• Consider each employees' personal situation, for example, an employee who normally use to be in the office from 8 o’clock might now not be able to attend an 8 o’clock meeting
• Build an emotional vocabulary

Humans like routine and rituals. In general, we like to know what to expect because it makes us feel safe.

Mutual trust and respect between managers and employees are crucial. If you are concerned that an employee is not doing his or her part, discuss it. Do not make assumptions. It is extremely important to consider employees' realities. Performance management still needs to take place, but the method of conducting performance management should be adapted.

REFOCUS BUSINESS PRACTICES

It is important to keep in mind that we are all learning.

The following considerations should be made:

• Put a platform in place where employees can make suggestions
• Do regular, short and anonymous surveys § Leadership needs to take control and listen, whilst still moving forward
• We are in a time of disruption, however, there will be a time after the disruption, and it is important that we keep our focus on that.
• Winston Churchill stated: "Never let a good crisis go to waste", therefore,  use this opportunity to make your business more efficient and streamlined
• Now is the time for learning new skills, improving business practices, etc.
• Look for ways to communicate positivity by placing emphasis on small victories
• Develop flexible working models for the future Other important interventions
• Employees must have a “safe place” where they can openly and honestly share their emotions and feelings
• Teams should have the opportunity to conduct meaningful conversations where they can share and refocus their emotions
• Employees and teams should be given the opportunity to learn new skills regarding their own and others mental health
• Performance management needs to be re-planned

For further conversations in this regard, you are welcome to contact Marieke Oberholzer (Marieke.oberholzer@mazars.co.za or
083 306 1720)