4 Ways CEOs Can Aid Employee Mental Health in a Crisis

Importance of Mental Health

A sudden shift to remote working has had a bad effect on employee mental health around the globe. As per a recent study, global quarantine has caused 75% of the people to feel socially isolated, 32.5% reported being less productive, and 54% say they are emotionally exhausted. This article focuses on how CEOs can aid employee mental health in a crisis. 

1. Engage with your workforce on a personal level

About 40% of employees said that their companies haven’t even asked about their well being since the pandemic began. And nearly 38% of this group further complained about the mental health crisis that they have been going through. This is an alarming situation. CEOs should engage with their workforce on a personal level and provide them mental support.

Also Read: 5 Keys for Building a Successful Remote Organization

2. Build trust

Building trust is the biggest medicine for curing mental health crisis. And the easiest way to do that is by demonstrating supportive listening. It helps employees to open up and discuss what they are going through. This allows CEOs to understand their problems and provide specific solutions. When employees realize that they are not alone in this fight, they support others as well. 

3. Catch the pulse of your workforce

CEOs should conduct a periodic survey to catch the pulse of their workforce — front line executives, managers, teams, departments, and the company as a whole. This will help them move ahead of trends forecasted by experts and understand the sentiments of their workforce. Recent studies have shown that sentiment analysis helps identify different situations immediately. Thus, if CEOs know the pulse of their workforce, they will be able to take action rapidly.

4. Be consistent in your communication

CEOs should communicate with their workforce consistently. According to a recent survey, 23% of people said they experienced a mental health crisis if their manager wasn’t good at communicating. It further added that 90% of them wanted at least a weekly call from their manager while 29% preferred daily communication. Studies provide countless benefits of good employee mental health — such as increased productivity and reduced absenteeism— which is why CEOs should remain consistently in touch with their workforce.

The pandemic has changed our way of working. Global quarantine is a reality and has forced companies to allow their employees to work from their homes. This sudden change in the way we live and work has caused a mental health crisis on a global scale. But if CEOs follow the steps mentioned above, it will help them develop a confident workforce that will search for solutions instead of problems. 

This is where we can help. At Sage Software, we are home to world-class ERP and CRM software that will provide effective solutions to your specific business challenges.

Disclaimer: All the information, views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and their respective web sources and in no way reflect the principles, views or objectives of Sage Software Solutions (P) Ltd.