Employees have survived another stressful year of working from home, juggling childcare, managing larger workloads, grappling with Zoom fatigue, and combating exhaustion, isolation, and burnout. On top of that, many have also transitioned back to the office.
With the holidays quickly approaching, many workers are looking forward to a time filled with good food, friends, and spending time relaxing with loved ones.
But the holiday season also brings the added stress of end-of-the-year deadlines, financial pressures, and additional family obligations. This is also a time for a more focused emphasis on mental health for many.
Pathways at Work conducted a survey between September 2020 to May 2021 of 2,200 employees from finance, advertising, marketing, IT, accounting, facilities management, and education. The results revealed ongoing struggles with mental health, including burnout, work-life balance issues, fatigue and insomnia, financial stress, and depression. Much of this was the fallout from the pandemic.
Although the holiday time adds stressors, there are a variety of things that employers can do to make the holidays more manageable, festive, enjoyable, and mentally healthy for employees—even in a pandemic:
Create a Culture of Mental Health
Over the past 18 months, employees have grappled with burnout, an economic downturn, job insecurity, rising inflation, childcare disruptions, worry over unemployed family and friends, overwork, isolation, and loss amid a global pandemic. Who wouldn’t be stressed?
While the holidays are a time for joyous celebration, they also are a time for companies to place a greater emphasis on employee mental health, especially as workers continue to navigate the pandemic’s fallout. Acknowledge your organization’s desire to create a physically, emotionally, and mentally healthy environment for employees, so they feel they can come forward safely if they need additional mental health support.
If you have an Employee Assistance Program, this would be a good time to remind employees how to access the care they need. Most importantly, have empathy and remind them that the holidays can be stressful and encourage them to take advantage of resources that will help them make the most of their holiday season.
Guide Your Employees
During the pandemic, employees looked to their managers and supervisors for guidance in navigating the new pandemic workplace. With the holidays approaching, that guidance is even more important. Throughout the holidays and in the coming year, employees will be asking questions about flexible schedules, PTO, medical and dental insurance changes, end-of-year deadlines, and return to the office protocols. For some, these topics can add to mental health stress. It’s important for managers to be available to their employees with answers to their questions.
In the Pathways at Work survey, respondents reported persistent stress, fatigue, anxiety, and burnout. In fact, burnout was the number one concern for employees over the past year. Checking in with your employees in a friendly and supportive manner can go a long way in helping them feel safe in opening up about their mental health struggles. It will also help support employees to get their job done and feel that their management team cares about their mental well-being. It’s helpful if managers and supervisors open up about their own sense of vulnerability, demonstrating that we’re all humans struggling to do the best we can.
Promote a Culture of Wellness
Hopefully, your organization has a focus on wellness that is promoted throughout the year. The holidays are a perfect time to capitalize on those initiatives. Good mental health starts with taking care of body, mind, and spirit. So, encourage your employees to prioritize exercise and eat healthy foods. Proper nutrition is key during stressful times, and the holidays invite overeating. So, encourage your employees to eat well and watch the intake of alcohol and sugar. Support your employees to get up from the desk, take a 10-minute walk or engage in some yoga stretches or meditation activities. If the budget allows, invest in some of the streaming apps for employees to access physical workout and meditation programs.
Financial health also plays a greater role in good mental health over the holidays. And now, more than a year into the pandemic, Americans still struggle with their finances. In a survey released in September 2021 from the National Endowment for Financial Education, more than 60 percent of Americans were either extremely concerned or somewhat concerned about their money. The holidays can enhance this financial strain, especially if employees are buying gifts, entertaining extended family, and traveling to visit relatives. Consider offering training programs and financial counseling that will give employees the tools they need to manage their finances throughout the year. And if your Employee Assistance Program has a financial component, make sure employees know about it.
Encourage Work/Life Balance
Work-life balance was the third-highest concern among employees in 2021, according to our respondents in the Pathways at Work survey. During the holidays, employees are pulled in numerous directions, which can affect their overall mental health. Employees may be racing to meet last-minute, end-of-year deadlines, which can lead to burnout and exhaustion. Juggling work demands and family obligations, especially during the holidays in the middle of a pandemic, can be a recipe for trouble. If possible, curtail after-hours work and emails during this time so that your employees can rest, spend time with loved ones, attend holiday and school events and enjoy their time off.
The holidays can be a time of great joy and restoration, both mentally and emotionally. Managers and supervisors can be integral in helping employees have a mentally healthy, festive, and joyful holiday. Consider decorating the office for those who are back, throw a cookie party or ugly sweater contest, and for those that are still working remotely, consider sending holiday care packages that promote wellness.
A little pre-planning and thought can help your employees navigate this stressful time and make things easier. If done with care, employees will notice your efforts, which may make a big difference in retaining them in the new year.
