Eighteen months since initial nationwide shutdowns, the latest global surge in COVID-19 cases is exacerbating what was already high levels of employee burnout. And while some office workers around the world seemed to welcome the newfound flexibility during the pandemic, for many, remote work has led to increased feelings of isolation, stress, and anxiety.
As the Delta variant continues to run rampant and employees grapple with “trauma fatigue,” companies have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create a workplace that redefines what wellbeing looks like. Post-pandemic, the most forward-thinking companies will be those that are bold and proactive in reshaping their workplace strategies to put people at the center.
Remote work is exposing social risks as the ‘Great Resignation’ grows
Despite the opportunities for flexibility enabled by remote working, employees are reaching a breaking point. With virtual fatigue and burnout continuing to rise, JLL’s recent Regenerative Workplace Report, incorporating insights from more than 3,300 office workers across 10 countries, found that one-third of workers feel disenchanted by their employer today. Further, with a quarter of workers feeling too exhausted by work and family life to self-manage their own health and wellbeing, the majority of employees (75 percent) now want their workplace to be a space where they can be their true selves and share their difficulties and concerns.
This means there’s a huge opportunity for employers to meet these new employee desires by creating dedicated spaces for health and wellbeing. JLL’s research, for instance, found that relaxation spaces, healthy food services, and outdoor spaces top the list in terms of what employees are looking for from their employers today, but only 17 percent, 19 percent, and 25 percent of people respectively have access to them. And with one-third of the workforce lacking access to any health amenities today, companies have the chance to fill this need through the office. From fitness centers and outdoor terraces to catering healthy lunch options and access to nutritionists, employers should look to cement the office as a place not only for work but reinforcing a culture of enhanced wellbeing.
Driving healthier habits in the workplace
Providing easier access to health amenities, however, won’t make an impact on employees’ holistic wellbeing if they don’t have the time to use them. With one-third of employees today feeling held back by a lack of energy and time to adopt healthy routines, companies have the opportunity to better support their workers by helping them carve out time during the workday to focus on self-care. People managers, in particular, will have a critical role to play in setting the tone and encouraging their teams to identify the moments and places where they can take care of themselves, even if it means shifting away from the traditional ‘9 to 5’ working hours.
At JLL, recognizing that many of our employees are experiencing the pandemic on a deeply psychological front, we have created an online portal of resources to guide their mental, physical and financial health and help foster a sense of belonging while working from a distance. Through the portal, employees can access webinars and guided videos to help them gain critical training, tips, and techniques to keep their minds and bodies healthy. We also offer free access to the meditation app, Headspace, to help manage feelings of stress and anxiety. And most recently, we’re currently piloting our Experience / Anywhere platform with 3,000 JLL employees to encourage healthy habits. This includes a digital portal – called “The Hub” – that integrates directly with employees’ calendars to block time for micro-habits to combat work-stressors felt throughout the day, providing customized on-demand wellbeing services like yoga and meditation that match each individual’s interests and needs.
New urgency for human connection
With prolonged homeworking taking a heavy social and mental toll, workers are increasingly craving in-person, human connection. JLL research finds that only one-third of the workforce, for instance, feels able to maintain strong working and personal relationships with their colleagues while working remotely. But despite these socialization drawbacks, the majority of employees enjoy the flexibility of alternating between the office and home environments.
For companies to find success in this new normal, they’ll need to reimagine a new purpose for the office as a destination for collaboration, learning, and spontaneous interaction. This will require leaders to be proactive in reshaping the physical workplace to be human-centric, where spaces are organized around the individual and tailored to what they each need to work well. This could mean accommodating preferences for solo working through spaces and technologies designed to support meetings with remote colleagues, creating dedicated socialization areas like cafés and lounges, as well as offering exposure to the outdoors through terraces, gardens, or rooftops.
Conclusion
With fewer boundaries at work now, people are craving a workplace that supports their individual health and wellbeing wherever work happens. The companies that create spaces that allow workers to feel supported in their body, mind, and professional relationships will achieve stronger human performance and organizational resilience in the long run.
