No one knew it would last forever. Maybe not like at the beginning, with so much fear but also with the conviction that it would stop in a short time. Not even after three months, when the arrival of summer seemed to have freed us from constraints.
And after three years, companies and people are facing a new normal, in which smart working is no longer a forced choice, not a transitory condition, but a new way of experiencing the work space.
And while there are those who have embraced the possibility of working from home as an advantage (to take care of children more easily, to not have to deal with traffic every day, to not consume petrol and oxygen), there are certainly less positive implications.
As early as May 2021, a survey of remote workers conducted by the American Psychiatric Association recorded that the majority of respondents experienced ‘negative impacts on mental health, feelings of isolation, loneliness, and difficulty in disconnecting from work at the end of the day’.
In such cases, what can leaders do for the well-being of their people?
It is well known how positive leadership styles (inspiring, motivating, transformational) can positively affect the mental health of their employees, and consequently also improve their work performance (Montano et al., 2017).
But what happens when employees work remotely? What can leaders do to support their people’s mental health?
If already in face-to-face interaction it is not always easy to recognise signs of malaise among employees, it can be even more difficult in a smart working situation. An interesting article in Forbes helps us to identify some virtuous behaviours for leaders to put into practice, to the benefit of the mental well-being of people working remotely.
1. Schedule meetings
Whether in person or virtual, it is essential to schedule regular meetings with the team. The return to the office can be an opportunity to organise meetings, co-working spaces but also coffee breaks that break the silos and also the monotony of working from home. Ideal would then be to have an event every year that brings the whole team together in presence. Even without pharaonic investments, what is important is the opportunity to get together and spend quality time, to brainstorm, share projects and discuss new opportunities. Remotely, it is essential to recreate similar situations, where appointments serve for a chat, to decompress, to boost morale even with games and small celebrations.
2. Organise regular checkpoints
Once again, the subject is not the progress of projects but what is happening in people’s lives. A good leader builds a culture of psychological safety, in which people are able to share what makes them feel good and what they need. 10 minutes of exchange at the beginning of a meeting can bring to light not only plans for the weekend, but also difficulties such as illness or demanding commitments. This gives the leader the opportunity to build stronger relationships with their people.
3. Empathise with people’s work-life balance
Presence work has ‘natural’ breaks, which are nourished by interpersonal exchanges. Working remotely, on the other hand, cannot mean long hours chained to the desk, in solitude. The manager must be confident that, once expectations and goals have been set, the work will be completed regardless of the time spent online. The leader must legitimise people to put breaks on the agenda, perhaps to pick up the children from school or to take a walk. And of course, respect the evening time, dedicated to recharging the batteries!
4. Encourage holiday time
Faced with people who have not taken a real holiday for two years because of the pandemic, it is important to encourage and support periods of total disconnection from work, which are essential for taking care of one’s mental and physical well-being and for regenerating one’s personal and professional life.
5. Giving recognition
Much easier in presence than remotely, it is however equally important to recognise one’s own achievements, celebrating even small victories to foster a sense of belonging and personal pride. It can be a meeting opening, a shared slide, an acknowledgement chat. Small initiatives that make a difference to people’s well-being!
6. Give visibility to corporate mental health resources
Sometimes mental distress is stigmatised and people who suffer from it suffer an added sense of shame. The leader has a duty to publicise and normalise all the resources and benefits the organisation offers to its population, while respecting the privacy of each individual.
If these behaviours become part of the leader’s conscious practice, an important step will be taken towards building an organisational culture that supports the care of people and, in particular, their psychological health.
[1] https://www.psychiatry.org/newsroom/news-releases/as-americans-begin-to-return-to-the-office-views-on-workplace-mental-health-are-mixed
[2] Montano, D., Reeske, A., Franke, F., & Hüffmeier, J. (2017). Leadership, followers’ mental health and job performance in organizations: A comprehensive meta‐analysis from an occupational health perspective. Journal of organizational behavior, 38(3), 327-350.
[3] https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinessdevelopmentcouncil/2022/10/31/how-to-prioritize-employees-mental-health-on-remote-teams/?sh=685c581b3f93
