The pandemic has greatly affected the health, especially the mental transformation health, of employees. However, there are concrete ways to act on the various work-related risk factors, argue the specialists.
We have recognized time that these various risks for a long, such as work overload, change the mental health of workers, and they are always represented in the context of an epidemic.
Confined to a distance, the employees were effectively overwhelmed with work, in addition to having to deal with the vagaries of technology and the multiplication of meetings, she illustrates. To protect their health, managers have every reason to review everyone’s tasks to eliminate overload, for example by simplifying procedures that are “unnecessarily” complex. The researcher points out that we may also decrease the layers of the administration try to clean. She reminds us that a job is made up not only of the sum of tasks to be accomplished but also of the difficulties that must be overcome to get there. And, with telecommuting, executives are even less concerned about all the drawbacks every employee might encounter.
Managers must also avoid falling into the trap of excessive surveillance, while the “lack of autonomy increases the risks in terms of mental health”, emphasizes Caroline Biron. Conversely, she suggests providing them with the right tools in terms of recognition, so that they can highlight their employees’ good deeds, as well as their efforts and perseverance. And thus, take into account another crucial element in terms of prevention.
Focus on relationships
Occupational health encompasses physical, psychological, social, and even spiritual well-being – the meaning one finds in one’s work – according to certain definitions. Dr says that the whole interpersonal feature is therefore valuable, both with his classmates and with his boss. Mario Messier, technical director.
Hence the importance of stimulating, even virtually, meetings within the company. We must make individual contacts despite the multitude of meetings that we can have. A quick phone call to check if everything is fine, if the person needs help, for example,” advises Caroline Biron. A reflex developed at the start of the pandemic that must be maintained as long as the crisis continues, she adds.
For her part, certified human resources advisor (CRHA) and industrial psychologist at Groupe Conseil SCO Ghislaine Labelle suggests setting up self-help groups between colleagues, or even pairing up certain workers so that they can collaborate. In addition to this way of breaking isolation, managers could add psychological health issues to the agenda of team meetings. She explains that this permits us to discourse not only what is well successful, but also what is not happening well and what we may do to recover everything.
Addressing psychological healthcare openly also legitimizes workers’ needs and shows the organization’s openness to finding solutions to meet them, notes Ghislaine Labelle.
A way forward
Any approach to improving worker health begins with surveying your troops to understand their real needs, says Dr. Mario Messier. You must take the time to ask workers what they require and discover techniques to engage everyone. As a joke, I tell the managers that you have to connect to your WIIFM, which means “What’s in it for me?”
An approach that allows you to take the first steps in terms of health in the workplace, with different stages and requirements,” says Dr. Messier. For example, in addition to identifying the right measures to put in place, organizations must also appoint a responsible person and develop a structured plan with objectives, budgets, and a communication plan. Reviewing management practices, such as recognition, granted autonomy, or work-family balance, is just as important to ensure a healthy work environment, he adds.
Companies are also invited to validate the impact of their actions regularly, in an effort for continuous improvement. A very useful procedure to follow to ensure that these prevention and health promotion measures will have real results underlines the scientific director.
We have projected that the immediate and incidental costs of health subjects like presenteeism or group insurance premiums signify on average 24% of the staff of companies. The game is therefore worth the candle, not only for the workers but also for the employers.
