Wellbeing | Could employee openness be your lockdown wellbeing secret weapon?

  Could employee openness be your lockdown wellbeing secret weapon? Various studies have found that mental health has decreased since remote working took hold, but how should HR be addressing this growing issue?… When discussing the overall impact that the coronavirus has had on working life, it’s hard to look past the effect it has had on wellbeing. Coronavirus hasn’t just been a threat to physical health, worker wellbeing and mental health has suffered greatly, too. Professionals have had to wrestle with the anxiety that comes with protecting loved ones, carrying out professional responsibilities in sometimes less-than-ideal conditions and isolation – as well as caring for dependants and home-schooling children. All of this whilst many face potential redundancy, overwork, burnout or reduced pay checks. These conditions, albeit not universal, lead Mind to find in Autumn 2020 research that over half of workers believe COVID has directly impacted their long-term mental health. Separate research, by Health.org, found that two-thirds of adults in the UK report feeling somewhat or very worried about the effect COVID-19 is having on their life – with the most common issues being worries about the future at 63%, feeling stressed and anxious at 56%, and feeling bored