I am currently running corporate mindfulness meditation skills training for agencies in London, Singapore and Shanghai.
These programs not only help employees deal with stress but provide the skills and tools that lead to improved productivity, creativity, communication and collaboration in the workplace.
Apart from Shanghai, where some agency staff are back at the office, a common denominator for these agencies is that staff are working from home (WFH). Even so, some participants in the Shanghai workshops are still working from home.
Another more interesting phenomena that connects all three geographical and culturally disparate agencies is the toll that WFH has had on them.
But first, let me ask you a question: Do you know the real reason that employees take more sick days or quit?
And it’s not, as you might believe, because they are physically unwell.
It’s because of stress, anxiety, depression and other mental health issues. In fact, absenteeism for mental health reasons is costing business an average of £1,500 per employee every year.
At the beginning of these programs I had my optimism hat on (or perhaps it was my naivety hat :)) and thought WFH might offer some relief for employees. A chance to manage your own time, more time with the family, less pointless time-consuming meetings? Perhaps squeeze in a bit more me-time and exercise?
If anything, things have gotten worse for the average agency employee.
Employees are typically under great and often unrecognised stress in the most normal of circumstances, but in the era of COVID and its aftermath, that already dire situation has only deteriorated.
Feedback from participants reveals that employees working from home are under severe stress - struggling to balance work-life demands, feeling pressured to work outside of usual hours, demotivated through lack of social contact with colleagues, feeling tense, overwhelmed, exhausted, unfocused and anxious - just to name a few of the symptoms they are experiencing.
Take a look at just some of the verbatim - from all three agencies:
“I’m constantly stressed about career, health and personal life”
“Tired all the time”
“[I am] always feeling anxious and restless for no obvious reason”
“Struggling with making tough choices”
“I feel I’m under constant pressure to go influence others and stay relevant”
“I cannot seem to focus on one thing at a time. I tend to keep moving from one task to the other and back”
“With less stimulus in lockdown from work or socialising I feel I am focusing on things that didn’t use to concern me as much. I sometimes feel overwhelmed by my thoughts thinking ‘am I doing enough, is my career going in the right way, what else should I be doing’”
“I feel Tired. Stressed. Cluttered mind. Unfocused.”
“I feel like I’m balancing a lot…. trying to balance work and life in lockdown”
And so it goes on... and on... and on …… These are just the tip of the iceberg. And they aren’t trivial.
They strike at the very heart of people’s happiness and life satisfaction, as well as their motivation and engagement in their job. Not to mention their health.
Left unchecked this type of cognitive and emotional dysfunctioning will eventually lead to more serious consequences of chronic stress, depression and other illnesses, and, eventually, burnout.
The cost of replacing burnt out and disengaged workers is hurting business’ bottom line.
A report by Oxford Economics estimates that it costs UK business about £30,614 to replace an employee.
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Mental well-being is crucial for performance, productivity and creativity and it can be acquired and managed through a structured learning program of mindfulness meditation.
How about you?
Does any of this ring true for you?
Any thoughts on how you’ve managed through the crisis - working from home? Furloughed? Redundancy?
I would love to hear from you.
Source: UK Center for Mental Health, https://archive.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=4857
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