How omicron is impacting workplace well-being and what leaders can do

For those of us in the profession of managing people, navigating the ever-changing pandemic landscape these past two years has proven to be a tremendous challenge. Just when we put the final touches on a plan to get employees back into the office or working effectively using a hybrid model, another virus variant emerges and disrupts our best-laid plans.

This past summer, we thought we were finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel thanks to vaccinations and boosters. Before we knew it, those plans were dashed as we found ourselves facing the Delta and now the Omicron variants. In-person interviews, re-boarding, on-boarding, and business travel to work with key clients were all suddenly back on hold. It’s frustrating and exhausting for all of us!

While the new variant is highly transmissible and is infecting huge segments of the population, mercifully, its ability — so far — to hospitalize patients seems to be far less effective. That’s the good news. The bad news is, Omicron’s biggest impact may be its consequences to our mental health.

There was a sense among many that if we played by the rules and followed the science, we would be rewarded for our sacrifices. The virus would fade into the background and the economy would rebound. Some of that started to happen. But the rapid rise of the Omicron variant has sent us back into self-imposed lockdowns at the worst possible time, the second holiday season that’s made spending time with family and loved ones problematic if even possible.

A direct consequence of this “new normal” for business leaders is a need to put the mental health wellbeing of their employees at the top of our priority lists. Failing to do so has contributed greatly to the loss of talented resources. Why/? It turns out a sense of workplace “well-being” rates second only to monetary compensation on the list of must-have benefits employees now seek. It’s not only a sense of well-being at the workplace that workers want. They also want a benefits programs that walk the walk in terms of mental health offerings.

What are the best ways to show you value the once stigmatized topic of employee mental health at your place of business? Here’s what we see the companies we work with doing:

Create a space and time for conversations with workers about their wellbeing. It’s got to be a welcoming space, staffed with emphatic counselors, where they can share their concerns on such topics as returning to work while kids are unvaccinated, vaccine hesitancy, and the continued insecure feelings of not knowing what’s happening.

Prior to the pandemic, these weren’t conversations or topics openly discussed. Even during performance management, an unspoken taboo about raising mental health issues prevented an authentic conversation that could have mutually helped the individual and the organization. Now businesses are paying the price for this silence. Now, when mental well-being is being tested every day by society, the news, and the economy, workers realize how important mental health tools and empathetic management are to their success in the workplace.

Fortunately, these conversations are becoming more commonplace, and we’re working with our clients to institute proactive wellness programs and mental health discussions.

Managing stress, though it might readily fall under the greater umbrella of mental health, is another area employers need to focus on. Stress management, we’re finding, needs to be a pro-active initiative, not a condition to work on when it becomes symptomatic.

Create programs that will help alleviate stress. This can take the shape of gym membership reimbursements, lunch-and-learns with professional stress managers, even quiet rooms for meditation at the office. It’s important to communicate with employees that the company recognizes the impact stress has on our lives, and is willing to provide tools to help deal with it.

If anything, The Great Resignation has reminded us of a key tenet many of us may have forgotten. We must listen carefully, with an empathetic ear, and respond accordingly to our employees.

A recent Harvard Business Review article described the “overwhelming and unstainable work,” leading to team members leaving their jobs for mental health reasons. Another recent poll of UK employees, published by healthassured.org, points out at 54% of employees are feeling “stressed” or “extremely stressed” at work. The Centers for Disease Control cites that fear and anxiety about COVID-19 is contributing to high levels of stress, affecting the mental health of our team members in ways never seen before.

As leaders, we must take that extra effort to listen, learn, and engage with each other. Flexibility is key, but it’s having the important conversations about mental health and employee feelings that goes such a long way in creating a culture of understanding and support. Our team members need that form of support now more than ever.

Ed Beltran is CEO of Fierce, Inc.