As businesses and managers across the country navigate the different stages of reopening after being adrift for so long, the readjustment as people return to the workplace post-pandemic is likely to be complex.
With some workers spending the best part of two years working from home, many may be reluctant to return to the physical office, while others may seek a more permanent flexible approach to their working from home arrangements.
Some staff may be feeling anxious following the lack of social contact and prefer to take it slowly, while others may be worried about their health or have concerns surrounding the vaccination status of their colleagues or customers they interact with.
Public transport, the amount of office or workspace available and the assimilation of teams who may never have met each other face-to-face are all things managers need to consider as they work out how to best support their staff.
So how can managers smooth the way and support their employees through this transition?
Consistent communication
Regular and clear communication with your staff will be crucial as they start to transition back to the workplace. It’s important for managers to consult with employees about their changing needs via candid and open conversations. Communicating the phases of your workplace’s transition in a transparent way will be important, including giving staff the opportunity to provide feedback. Acknowledging the challenges people have faced during the pandemic while also looking to the future will help reengage staff and provide them with a sense of purpose.
“Leaders set the culture of the team, and how successful the team continues to work post-pandemic will rely heavily on how supervisors manage the transition back for each of their staff members,” says Dr Aimee Gayed, psychologist and Postdoctoral Research Fellow in workplace mental health at the Black Dog Institute.
“It’s important for managers to be accepting of and normalise that there will be anxiety and uncertainty about returning to the workplace, and that there won’t be a one size fits all for their staff. Open communication will be key.”
National law firm Wotton + Kearney staff are now being consulted ahead of their return to the workplace to ensure they feel supported.
“We’ve recently sent out an anonymous survey around vaccinations to find out where everyone’s at but to also find out what we can do to assist people more. People are consulted on everything that is important to them. We’ll ask them to tell us how they feel about it? Will they be comfortable catching public transport?
Obviously, if people are nervous about returning to the office, we’ll ask why that is and talk about how we can assist them with that. We’re not putting pressure on our staff. We’re going to ease into it. They’re going to guide us in terms of what they’re expecting, and we’ll just respond in kind,” says Wotton + Kearney’s People and Culture Director, Odile Shepherd.
Allow greater job control
A lack of job control is a significant contributor to job strain and mental stress, as identified in the Black Dog Institute’s white paper: Modern work: how changes to the way we work are impacting Australians’ mental health. A key leadership strategy is ensuring the needs of your staff are being considered, giving them a greater sense of autonomy and control, particularly during the post-pandemic transition.
Dr Aimee Gayed from the Black Dog Institute has emphasised the importance of job control in protecting mental health.
“Managers should make sure staff are involved in making decisions about how they can increase their level of control over the tasks they do. For those returning to the physical workplace, these decisions might include where their tasks are carried out and having the flexibility to continue working from home where suitable, with a graded transition back,” says Dr Gayed
Have flexibility
Promoting flexible conditions where possible contributes to this sense of job control.
Having conversations with your staff around their needs and providing a steady workplace transition where possible will be crucial. Some of the factors managers may need to consider and negotiate is how many days staff are required in the physical workplace, taking into account both the needs of the individual, team and business.
Law firm Wotton + Kearney has promoted flexibility both during the pandemic and once Sydney and Melbourne emerge from lockdown, with policies led by consultation with staff.
“We’ve got the challenge that we’ve grown significantly over the last 12 months, so we don’t have the office space to accommodate everyone. This is why our flex policy is so terrific. Our people know office time is important, because that’s our centre of gravity and where we go, but we don’t require them to be there every single day. It’s about purposeful time in the office to learn and socialise,” says Ms Shepherd.
Create a supportive culture
Organisations need to create an environment where people feel they can ask for support if they encounter difficulties during the transition back to the workplace. Building a culture that reduces stigma and makes staff feel comfortable to speak out about their concerns will allow for early intervention. This includes managers having one-on-one conversations with staff and sharing resources and tools that can improve their wellbeing.
As identified in the Black Dog Institute’s white paper, young people, in particular, have reported a steep increase in mental ill-health symptoms over the last year, so it will be important to keep an eye on these younger workers, particularly those in casual employment.
Promote protective interventions and help-seeking
Managers can play an important role in promoting and maintaining their workers’ mental health and wellbeing by sharing regular communications that encourage staff to utilise support services and evidence-based interventions.
HeadGear and MyCompass are great online tools that have been demonstrated to be effective in preventing and reducing symptoms of mental illness.
The online clinic is a free mental health assessment tool that provides an anonymous personalised report and recommended support services.
Build leadership skills
To create a more supportive environment, managers need to be provided with the skills and knowledge to help them recognise and respond to mental health issues in the workplace. Investment in evidence-based mental health training is a critical step to creating more mentally healthy workplaces.
“Organisations that invest in evidence-based mental health programs that upskill managers to better support the mental health needs of their staff can result in leaders who are more confident and engage in more effective practices such as initiating conversations with staff about their mental health, and promoting early help-seeking. Employees who have more supportive supervisors have also been found to have lower rates of work-related sickness absence,” said Dr Gayed.
Healthy leaders
Looking after your own mental health while supporting your team and modeling healthy behaviours is essential. Sharing your own challenges and difficulties during this process is another way of encouraging and promoting a culture of openness. Set boundaries between work and personal life, and schedule time for self-care activities. The resources on offer for your employees are also relevant for you to access too.
Wotton + Kearney’s Chief Executive Partner, David Kearney has promoted a culture of openness by sharing his own experience throughout the COVID-19 pandemic with his staff.
“David has a daughter going through the HSC and he’ll talk about how challenging that has been during lockdown, which is opening up the ability to have a conversation that business leaders are having a tricky time too!
I think that messaging definitely has to be led from the top to actually signal to the rest of the business that it’s okay if you’re struggling, you’re in good company. A lot of us are, and we get it,” said Ms Shepherd
Managers need to be thinking about their employees’ mental health in the longer term as well. This must involve establishing protective mental health and wellbeing interventions for all staff that are evidence-based.
As outlined in the white paper, holistic, integrated systems and policies must be developed and targeted at the individual, team and organisational levels.
It’s also about more than just providing mental health support, but about being pro-active at promoting and implementing a culture, environment and practices that support employees and their wellbeing ongoing.
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