Manager Toolkit

MODULE 2:

Mental health issues are a common reason that people take time off work and can potentially lead to poor work performance if left unaddressed. For managers, identifying employees who need support in dealing with their mental health can be notoriously difficult. This module intends to empower you to support the wellbeing of your team and is in no way aimed at training you to diagnose or treat mental health conditions. By proactively spotting the signs and symptoms you will be in a position to identify potential issues early on, thereby taking the necessary action and preventing a negative impact on the business.

What is Mental Health?

We all have mental health, just like we have physical health. Poor mental health can affect anyone regardless of age, gender, race or background. Mental health problems can occur as a result of experiences at home or at work, or they can just happen. Mental health impacts everything from how you think, feel and behave, to how you deal with stress and your relationships. When you are mentally healthy, you are resilient and better able to bounce back from adversity. As a manager, it is in your best interest to appropriately support staff with mental health issues so that they can thrive at work. Bear in mind that mental health issues, whether they are impacting work performance or not, are ultimately the employee’s responsibility to resolve. You may be in a position to offer support and encouragement or to initiate a referral to the EWP, but cannot solve the problem for them. This module aims to clarify some common meNtal health issues to empower managers to identify concerns before there is a major impact on occupational functioning.

What are the warning signs to look out for in an employee?

• Taking a lot of time off work. Monitor absence patterns to identify trends.
• Frequent mood swings and uncharacteristic behaviour, like withdrawal or angry outbursts.
• Abnormal or unkempt appearance.
• Being unable to concentrate, poor decision making, not meeting deadlines, making regular mistakes.
• Poor productivity that is not just a once-off.

Let’s look at the symptoms of some common mental health issues.

 

DEPRESSION

What is depression?

According to The American Psychiatric Association, “Depression (major depressive disorder) is a common and serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act…….It can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems and can decrease a person’s ability to function at work or at home”.

What are the symptoms of depression?

Intense feelings of sadness, difficulty sleeping or excessive sleeping, decreased concentration, an irritable mood, feeling worthless, loss of interest in activities that you used to enjoy, fatigue, hopelessness, significant weight loss or gain, thoughts of suicide.

Is there treatment for depression?

Absolutely! Therapy or medication or a combination of both are used to treat depression. The causes and severity are different for everyone, so treatment varies from person to person. It is necessary to see a psychologist or a psychiatrist for treatment.

It is essential to note that just because someone has been diagnosed with or is being treated for depression does not mean that you should expect them to be lying in a dark room feeling sorry for themselves all day. Many people learn to successfully live with depression through a combination of treatments and can function just as well as anyone who does not have the illness. Having depression does not automatically put you at a disadvantage personally or occupationally. When addressing mental health issues with an employees, it’s important not to label them by focusing on the diagnosis – talk to them about how it affects their work.

 

STRESS AND ANXIETY

Is anxiety the same as stress?

No, stress and anxiety are not the same, but they do share some common symptoms.

Stress is your body’s natural response to a challenge – when you feel like you are not keeping up with life’s demands such as a work deadline or an exam. It’s normally short term and it can be positive or negative. Good stress can motivate you and help you to reach your goals. Bad stress stays for weeks or months and can be detrimental to your mental health and well-being.

The symptoms of stress include: feeling agitated or overwhelmed, difficulty relaxing, low energy, headaches, upset tummy, muscle pain, insomnia, forgetfulness or decreased concentration, worrying

Anxiety is a disorder that can be triggered by stress. It doesn’t go away after the challenge has passed and can be described as a persistent feeling of dread. Like depression, it can have an impact on your functioning at home or at work.

The symptoms of anxiety include: increased heart rate, rapid breathing, restlessness, difficulty falling asleep, decreased concentration, irritability, racing thoughts, nausea, a sense of impending danger

Is there treatment for anxiety?

Like depression, the treatment is therapy or medication or a combination of both and requires a psychologist or a psychiatrist.

 

TRAUMA VS GRIEF

Trauma and grief are often confused with each other. Although they are not unrelated, they are not the same thing either. For example, going through a divorce is a loss and not a trauma. Let’s take a closer look at the differences between the two subjects:

Trauma is a real or perceived threat to a person’s life resulting from an event that is outside of normal human experience and is associated with intense feelings of helplessness, fear and anger and may leave an individual unable to cope. A traumatic event involves actual or threatened death, violence or serious injury. Examples of traumatic events include sexual assault, physical assault, hijacking, robbery/ burglary, witnessing a suicide, a motor vehicle accident, and natural disasters.

The symptoms of trauma include: intrusive memories, flashbacks, nightmares, avoiding talking about the event or avoiding people and places that remind you of the event, hopelessness, feeling numb, difficulty concentrating, being jumpy, feeling irritable or angry, guilt or shame

Most people who experience a traumatic event recover on their own without any intervention. There is no need to go rushing off to counselling immediately unless the individual wants to. If a traumatised employee’s symptoms do not improve after a few weeks, or get worse, it is appropriate to suggest counselling. But don’t push them to attend counselling immediately after the event if they are not ready. In fact, don’t push them to attend counselling at all. If they indicate that they are not ready, provide them with LifeAssist’s contact details and assure them that they can make contact in their own time. Just like everyone has a unique response to trauma, so we all have unique ways of coping with it. Due to differing belief systems, some employees may choose not to go the counselling route, but will rather seek help from religious leaders in the community or make use of traditional healing practices.

How to support a traumatised employee:

• Individuals react to trauma differently based on various factors, including their levels of resilience. Don’t expect the same reaction from everyone.
• Show support and offer assistance with their workload if possible.
• Avoid giving too many new tasks or responsibilities in the days following the traumatic event.
• Provide contact details for LifeAssist and inform them of the counselling services available.
  

Grief is the normal response to loss. Bereavement is a specific type of grief related to someone dying. There is no timeline – everyone experiences grief differently. Examples of grief include the death of a loved one, loss of safety, loss of a job, loss of health, the end of a relationship (divorce).

The Kubler-Ross model describes the five stages of grief as: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. These stages don’t necessarily happen in sequence and not everyone experiences every stage.

Some people may experience prolonged grief, also known as complicated grief, that lasts for months or years. In this case professional support is recommended.

How to support a grieving employee:

• Offer practical help, like extending a deadline or giving some time off to take care of personal matters.
• Show empathy by acknowledging the loss and offering words of comfort.
• Check-in with them in the weeks following the loss.
• Don’t offer advice because you may not be aware of all of the personal circumstances. Avoid sayings like “Be strong” or “It’s for the best”.
• Respect their privacy and don’t push them to talk to you about it if they don’t want to.
• Encourage other team members to be supportive and to be patient with the employee while they recover.
• Provide LifeAssist contact details and inform them of the counselling services available.

Most people will be impacted by poor mental health at some point in their lives, which can come at an enormous cost to the business. So supporting employee’s mental health at work is critical. In 2015 SADAG and Hexor &Lundbeck released research on depression in the workplace. They found:

• 1 in 4 people had been diagnosed with depression
• Employees took an average of 18 days off a year because of their depression
• Only 25% of managers felt they had support in dealing with an employee with depression

Furthermore, SADAG conducted a survey in 2017 on stigma in the workplace. They found that when employees disclosed mental illness to their managers only 31% got a positive/ helpful response, 39% were indifferent, and 30% got a negative response. Furthermore, 56% of respondents said that they had time off work in the past year for mental health reasons.

These stats highlight the necessity for managers to support mental health in the workplace. We hope that this module has empowered you to identify the signs and symptoms of some common mental health issues. Manager consultations are available via the LifeAssist National Support Centre if you would like to discuss how best to deal with a particular employee.

Join us for Module Three where we’ll take a closer look at Substance Use Disorders, the treatment options, and their impact on the workplace!

MODULE 3:

Engaging with employees is one thing, but constructively engaging with employees is another. In this module, we’ll help you to brush up on your constructive engagement skills with the aim of relating better to employees and ensuring that everyone is motivated to perform. We’ll cover constructive confrontation, effective listening, constructive criticism, and the Karpmann Drama Triangle.

Constructive Confrontation

Former Intel Chairman, Andy Grove said, “Constructive engagement (Confrontation) does not mean being loud, unpleasant, or rude, and it is not designed to affix blame. The essence of it is to attack a problem by speaking of it in a business-like way.”

When people of different backgrounds come together there is bound to be conflict. The same applies to organisations. Nobody wants conflict, but sometimes it’s unavoidable. Employees all have different values, beliefs, backgrounds, and personal problems which can lead to conflict in the workplace. Conflict can be expressed in different ways, such as bullying, insults, anger, and non-cooperation. It can be caused by various factors like miscommunication, perceived inequalities, organisational change, personality clashes, or poor management. And the consequences are dire – absenteeism, high staff turnover, poor performance, disruption to the organisation, or dismissal.

When a conflict arises in the workplace we can respond by confronting, accommodating, or avoiding it. Accommodating and avoiding are both passive ways of dealing with conflict which can lead to the conflict escalating in future and requiring greater effort to resolve. Confrontation can be aggressive and therefore unproductive, or it can be constructive with the view of collaborating with the other party to find a solution. The focus should not be on the conflict, but on constructive confrontation with the aim of resolving the conflict and moving forward with a resolution.

 

What is confrontation?

According to Gregg Walker of Oregon State University, confrontation is the direct expression of one’s view (thoughts and feelings) of the conflict situation and an invitation for the other party to express his or her views of the conflict.

Confrontation involves describing the problematic behaviour and reactions to that behaviour, clarifying and exploring issues related to the conflict, and discussing related feelings.

 

How do I constructively confront conflict?

As a manager, you should be able to step in and take charge by constructively confronting employees. Keep the following in mind:

• Schedule a conflict management session. Confrontation can only be constructive if there is sufficient time to adequately share views. Attempts to confront a conflict on the fly will probably lead to more frustration. Bear in mind that it won’t always be possible to find a resolution in one meeting. Depending on the nature of the conflict, more than one meeting may be necessary.
• Keep a cool head. Wait until you are calm and in a good space before attempting to resolve conflict. Your ability to regulate your own emotions during the confrontation is critical to moving forward during the conversation.
• Focus on the language you use. When confronting conflict, it is useful to use non-accusatory language. It may be tempting to blame, especially the person who you perceive to be the cause of the problem. But the blame game will get you nowhere. The language you use is critical. For example, instead of saying “What you said about your colleague is unacceptable”, you could say “I overheard what you said about Dineo the other day”. The first statement is accusatory. The second statement refers to your observations. People are less defensive when you talk about your observations and will automatically be easier to communicate with if you don’t get their back up.
• Refer to your thoughts and feelings about issues surrounding the conflict and the other party’s behaviour but be careful not to mention anything relating to their personality or character as this will be construed as threatening.
• Avoid getting sucked into an argument by focusing on facts. If the employee is angry, it will be difficult for them to hear you and to communicate. You may need to repeat yourself in different ways before your point is understood.
• Be clear and concise. There’s no room for mixed messages, especially if miscommunication contributed to the conflict.
• Be clear about what you heard or saw. If you didn’t witness the events then make sure you have gathered sufficient information and as many facts as possible before confronting the employee. There is no room for ambiguity.
• Communicate consequences. Often people don’t realize the far-reaching impact of their behaviour. Be honest about how it is impacting their colleague/s, the team, or the organisation.
• State your expectations as a manager. Being unclear or vague about your expectations going forward will create confusion.
• This process is futile if you don’t give the person/ people involved the opportunity to speak and be heard. This may help to diffuse tension but will also provide you with information you wouldn’t otherwise have, potentially leading to a solution. Try to really understand what the other party is saying.
• Prepare yourself. Disagreement is part of the process. Just because you are the manager does not mean the employee will agree with you automatically. This is a collaborative process with the aim of finding a solution together. Disagreement does not automatically mean that the encounter needs to be a battle.
• Don’t preach. Invite a collaborative approach to improving the situation.

 

Listen to Understand

Not only is a large part of the constructive confrontation process dependant on your ability to listen, but in general for you to constructively engage with employees you need to be able to hear and understand what they are saying. Here are some tips to help you listen effectively:

• Face the speaker and keep eye contact. Put away any distractions like your cell phone. How do you feel when you are trying to talk to someone and they are busy on their computer or looking around the room? You probably don’t feel heard. Ensure that the employee knows that they have your attention when they are speaking.
• Be present. To give your full attention to the speaker you need to keep your full attention on them. Don’t be distracted by your own thoughts like how many other things you have to do, and try to block out distractions in the background like phones ringing and people talking in the corridor. When it’s your turn to listen, don’t spend the time planning what you are going to say next. Keep your focus on what the speaker is saying.
• Keep an open mind. Don’t judge the speaker. Bear in mind that they are expressing their own thought and feelings. You don’t need to accept those thoughts and feelings, but you do need to understand where he/ she is coming from. Also bear in mind that in our multi-cultural society the speaker may be expressing themselves in their second, third or fourth language. There is lots of room for misinterpretation. Clarify if you think you may have misunderstood the speaker.
• Don’t interrupt. By interrupting the speaker, you send the message that you feel that you are more important than they are and that you don’t care about their opinion. This will do nothing but increase tension. If you need to ask a question or clarify what the speaker said, wait until the speaker pauses.
• Empathy facilitates communication. Try to put yourself in the speaker’s shoes and imagine what it must be like to be him/ her.
• Pay attention to nonverbal cues. Not all communication is spoken. The tone of voice, facial expression, posture, and bodily movements all convey a message.

 

The Art of Delivering Constructive Criticism

Providing constructive criticism is an important skill for all managers to learn. Constructive criticism is a process that involves conveying both positive and negative feedback with the aim of fostering further development. Instead of only identifying what is wrong, you are also offering helpful suggestions for improvement. Since the word criticism often has negative connotations, another useful term we could use is “constructive feedback”. Constructive criticism is highly effective when delivered politely and professionally. Consider these points when delivering constructive criticism:

• Schedule a meeting and make it clear what the meeting is about. Don’t say, “I want to give you feedback on the project”. Rather say “The project is going well and I want to give you feedback on a few aspects”.
• Pick a good time. If you are not a morning person, don’t do it in the morning. If the employee already has two meetings and a deadline, it’s probably not a good day.
• Keep it private. It can be intimidating and awkward for an employee to receive constructive criticism in a group setting.
• Highlight the employee’s strengths and the areas where they are performing well, as well as areas that need to be improved on. Positive feedback should be genuine. The employee will pick up if you are giving compliments just for the sake of it.
• When discussing areas that require improvement, be prepared with solutions. Put suggestions forward on how the employee could improve. You need to actually be constructive!

 

Avoiding Workplace Drama

The Karpman Drama represents a destructive type of interaction that can occur between people in conflict. The three points of the inverted triangle represent the three roles that people may take in a conflict situation:

• The Victim
• The Persecutor
• The Rescuer

Persecutors are those who attack or oppress the victim. The persecutor holds the most power. The victim feels bullied by the persecutor. The victim feels vulnerable, helpless, and unable to solve problems on their own. The rescuer feels they need to help the victim. The rescuer often has a chronic need to “help” and perpetuates the problem by focusing on the individual (victim) and not the problem. Often the individuals in the drama triangle are acting unconsciously to get their own needs met and they aren’t aware of the bigger picture.

As a manager, understanding the dynamics of the Karpman Drama Triangle is a useful tool. Getting involved with one side or the other will make the problem worse and add to the toxicity of the dynamic. Remember these points when addressing drama in the workplace:

• Hold back your own judgement. If you have already decided who is at fault, you are in the drama triangle yourself. Often the conflict arises from misunderstandings or circumstances that need to be restructured, not from anyone being deliberately malicious.
• Each conflict situation is unique, and it probably isn’t necessary for the manager to approach all three parties in every situation.
• Of the parties that you do decide to approach, listen to each side of the story. They are most probably not aware of the drama triangle that they are involved in.
• Gently point out to the rescuer that they are not actually helping to solve the problem in their current role. A more constructive approach would be to ask how they can help, empowering the victim to decide what they need in the situation and to take action.
• Challenge the powerlessness of the victim by encouraging them to seek an actual solution by asking for help or constructively confronting the persecutor.
• Encourage the persecutor to be assertive about their own needs without blaming the victim.
• By facilitating a change of roles you are empowering all three parties to take responsibility for themselves, therefore changing the toxic dynamic.

Manager Consultation is available via the LifeAssist National Support Centre. Reach out to us if you would like to discuss how best to deal with a conflict situation in the workplace. In the next Module we’ll take a closer look at self-care for managers.

MODULE 4:

Fact: If you are not taking care of yourself, you are not going to be able to take care of your team. At some point, your health, your efficiency and your energy is going to suffer. A wise woman said, “Put on your own oxygen mask first”. It’s not possible to support those around you if you are not well yourself. If you don’t have a self-care strategy, you aren’t doing yourself and the people who depend on you any favours. Even the most effective leaders feel emotionally and physically worn down sometimes. Before we go more in-depth, let’s look at some common excuses that leaders make for not engaging in self-care:

• “Self-care is new age mumbo jumbo”. Wrong! Self-care isn’t all about lighting candles and meditating on the beach. It’s about using any strategy that works for you to improve your mental and physical health.
• “Self-care is a luxury reserved for those people who have time on their hands”. Let’s rather look at it as an investment in your health and well-being.
• I have other priorities”. Well, that one is easy to refute. How many of your priorities could you achieve without health and well-being?
• “Strong people don’t need self-care”. You’re a human, not a machine! It’s not about being strong. It’s about responding proactively when you are feeling stressed out.
• “It seems selfish”. The reality is that without self-care you lessen your effectiveness, and those around you will feel it. Self-care is a necessity.

The benefits of taking care of yourself are endless, but here are some of the key aspects to consider in terms of your role as a manager:

• When you are in a good space, you are better able to motivate your team, thereby boosting morale.
• It’s not possible for you to be productive in the long term if your wellbeing is not taken care of. Decreasing productivity will be detrimental for your team and the organisation.
• Being stressed out and agitated negatively affects professional relationships and makes you come across as unapproachable, which may cause employees and not approach you with problems. That doesn’t mean the problems will go away. It just means they’ll fester until they eventually come to your attention and probably take more time to solve as a result.
• It’s difficult to objectively handle issues when you are overwhelmed and exhausted.
• When leaders practise self-care they signal to employees that it is OK to do the same, improving the health of the organisation.

Self-Care Strategies

Some of the best ways to take care of ourselves are simple. Think about a car that has an empty fuel tank. Eventually, it will stop moving. It’s as simple as stopping to top up with fuel. The same applies to you! You need to top up your fuel tank regularly so that you can keep going. The following are some ideas you can use for your own self-care, but essentially what we want is for these suggestions to get your creative juices flowing so that you can come up with innovative ideas that will work for you. If you are feeling very overwhelmed, start with small changes that feel achievable now. There is at least one thing that you can implement today that will make you feel better.  Here are some self-care tips to get you started:

• A foreign concept to a lot of managers. Not only is getting enough sleep crucial to your wellbeing but so is scheduling time out to just relax. Even if it’s one hour here and there, your body and your mind need to take a break from work so that you feel refreshed. And make good use of your leave days. Don’t frantically make plans for every day that you are on leave to catch up on everything you haven’t had time to do. Make sure that you also schedule some self-care days so that you can get proper rest. You’ve earned your time off so use it well!
• Get moving. Scheduling regular time for exercise is ideal, but if it’s something that you just can’t fit in right now that’s ok. How else can you get your body moving? Take the stairs instead of the lift. Spring clean your house. Take the dogs for a quick walk. Don’t look for the closest parking to the door. Run around outside with the kids. The list is endless! The added benefit is that getting some exercise will boost your energy levels.
• It’s OK not to be OK. In fact, it’s absolutely normal to not be OK from time to time so learn to ask for help. From the small things to the big things. If you’ve been feeling down for a long time and think you might be depressed, see a therapist. If you’re struggling to manage the household and your workload, make a roster of chores that need to be done at home and get your family involved – kids included! If your finances are seriously stressing you out, speak to a financial advisor to find out how you can start getting on top of it. You get the gist.
• Stay connected with family and friends. It’s easy to get so carried away with work that before you know it months have gone by since you connected with the important people in your life. Family and friends are one of your biggest support structures. Don’t neglect them.
• What happens if you fill up a petrol car with diesel? It breaks! You need the right fuel! To maintain your energy levels and feel well you need to be putting the right things in your body. Try to eat well most of the time and don’t use being too busy as an excuse. It’s just as quick and easy to grab an apple as it is to buy a samoosa from the garage. Keep a jug of water on your desk so that you aren’t tempted to drink soda and sugar-laden fruit juice. Keep your fridge at home stocked with healthy options – this has never been easier due to all the online shopping options we have available. Your diet doesn’t need to be perfect, but if there is room for improvement it is a worthwhile area to focus on.
• Focus on what you enjoy in life. It’s not all about work, work, work. What else makes you feel energised and fulfilled? Make time for that and work towards doing more of it.
• Set boundaries. As a leader, you may think that you have to be everything to everyone. Well, you don’t. Time is a limited resource. It’s OK to say “No” sometimes. And it’s OK to delegate.
• Be aware of your mindset. Focusing only on what is not going well and what is difficult is draining. There are things in your life that are going well or that you are doing well at. There are things to be grateful for. Balance the negative with the positive. Be aware of how you are speaking to yourself. If your “self-speak” is predominantly negative, be more conscious of the impact it has on how you feel and what you could do to improve it.
• Punctuate your workday with small breaks. Stop to have a refreshing glass of water. Take time to have a five-minute catch up with a colleague. Eat lunch in the canteen. You can’t just go, go, go. If it feels like you don’t have the time, then make the time.

Only you can ensure that you are getting the self-care that you need. Self-care is unique for everyone, and it’s up to you to come up with what works for you. Consistent self-care will not only improve your mental and physical well-being but will make you a more effective leader. Investing in your own well-being will inspire those around you to do the same, making a healthier and happier organisation.

LifeAssist is here to support you on your journey of self-care. From diet to exercise to mental health we have you covered!

CONSENT PROTOCOL IN A VIRTUAL WORKSPACE

Consistent with the predicted mental health wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, LifeAssist has seen an increase in the level of anxiety and stress presentations. Research conducted by Afriforte (April – July 2020, https://lifewithcovid19.co.za/assessments/) into the mental health of South Africans during the pandemic shows that the top two concerns shared by all respondents relate to the state of the economy and concern for family health and wellbeing. This research shows that 48% of those sampled, displayed high levels of psychological stress symptoms with 29% moderate levels and only 24% low symptoms.

Thus, the impact of this pandemic has been wide-reaching, but it appears that it has also increased the levels of stress for line managers. While managers are expected to look after the business and staff performance, more emphasis has been placed on managers to understand and monitor staff wellbeing while they are working remotely. Under normal circumstances, this would be a fairly routine task, however, in a virtual teaming environment this has proven to be a challenge. Thus, support for management teams and executives has become imperative within organizations that are looking to EWPs to assist in positioning support not only for staff but for these management teams as well.

The resulting changes to the operational aspects of the business highlighted above have motivated LifeAssist to draft this communication, with the intention to provide information and assistance to managers on how best to engage with the programme. When a need arises to refer an employee into the EWP programme, the following tips can be adopted and used where necessary:

• The EWP cannot be a substitute for, or part of, a disciplinary process (e.g. the referral to the EWP can still be declined by the employee as engagement with the programme is voluntary). An internal discussion (constructive engagement) between the employee and the manager, prior to the manager proceeding with the intention to refer, needs to have taken place.
• All manager referrals must be done as a result of poor performance.
• As a result of working remotely, there has been a significant increase in managers requesting that LifeAssist directly contact a staff member.
• When these referrals are manager referrals, the staff will sign consent using the Manager Referral Document.
• In the case of manager-initiated referrals (concern for an employee but no current performance-related issues and no feedback needed), then a manager can chat with the staff member and transfer them to the call centre.
• Where it is not possible to either sign the manager referral document or transfer the client telephonically, please note that LifeAssist is ethically bound to require consent from the individual before we contact them. There are several reasons for this:
• There is a legal obligation for consent.
• People have differing Health Belief Systems – some are comfortable opting for psychotherapy, while others choose to use of religious leaders in their communities, or traditional healing practices.
• EWP Counselling is voluntary, and staff should not feel pressured into using the EWP.
• The outcomes of therapy are significantly improved when clients take responsibility for their treatment and “ask for help”. The process of “asking for help” is significant in the therapeutic process.
• LifeAssist can only accept consent that is indicated in the form of a signature (by the employee), conversation trail (electronic) where there is a clear indication from the employee that they would like to be referred or in a case where the employee is present when the manager engages LifeAssist telephonically.

We welcome the opportunity to facilitate workshops with line managers to help them to identify staff that may need further assistance, how best to access your EWP services and to ensure that managers get the maximum benefit of the EWP in the virtual workspace.

Issued: September 2020

WHAT EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW

Guilt. An emotion that we are all familiar with. But not often considered in the context of the workplace. Globally businesses have had to retrench employees as a result of the unexpected consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. You may have initially felt lucky or relieved to survive the retrenchment process and still have your job. But as the reality set in, a host of other emotions may have snuck up on you. Anger. Anxiety. Depression. A sense of loss. Fear. These are common emotions experienced by those who have survived the retrenchment process. On top of that, you may also be experiencing survivor guilt – feelings of guilt for surviving the retrenchment process that your colleagues did not. How do you know if you are suffering from survivor guilt?

• You hold a grudge against the company. Bonds with colleagues are strong. You spent five days a week with them and it’s devastating to watch them pack their stuff and leave. It takes time to work through the hurt and anger is a normal response.
• Your productivity has decreased. You may find yourself thinking about what happened over and over again. Or talking about it a lot to fellow survivors as you all try to process what has happened.
• You feel fearful for the future. You constantly worry that more retrenchments are coming and are bombarded with “what if” questions like “What if I lose my job and I can’t pay rent” or “What if I can no longer support my family”. The uncertainty feels overwhelming.
• You feel resentful that you have to take on more work. Not only are you struggling to navigate these difficult emotions, but now you are being asked to take on more work too. It feels unfair.

It is not only important for your functioning at work that you recover, but for your overall well-being. If you are struggling with survivor guilt, use these practical tips to help you to move forward:

• Stay calm. You have survived this round of retrenchments. You have a job and a salary. Nobody can predict what the future holds, so convincing yourself that you are next is futile. To overcome this panic you can develop a plan for how you will handle it IF there are more retrenchments down the line and what you will do IF you are retrenched. But don’t convince yourself that you are next.
• Acknowledge that the way you are feeling is normal. You can’t deny the toll this has taken on you. You need time to grieve the loss of your colleagues and the loss of your workplace as you knew it. Don’t convince yourself that you are fortunate and should just put it behind you. Take the time you need to process the emotions.
• Talk about it constructively. Negative office gossip only serves to promote more negativity and won’t help you to process difficult feelings. Open up to friends, family and colleagues who you can have a productive conversation with.
• Keep the lines of communication open with your manager. If you have been having a difficult time at work for whatever reason, let your manager know.
• Practice stress-management and self-care. Don’t expect the feelings to just disappear one day. Take control by proactively working on stress-management and self-care techniques that will help you to feel less overwhelmed.

If you are struggling with the impact of retrenchments contact LifeAssist for professional support.

 

Tarryn Cox | 13 November 2020

Sources: Impact Group HR, Harvard Business Review

I HEAR YOU

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, most of us have had to navigate working under completely different circumstances than what we are used to. This alone is stressful. On top of that everyone is facing several other stressors ranging from finances to relationships to their children’s schooling. As a manager, you are not only contending with your own emotional response to the pandemic. You also have employees who are looking to you for support and guidance. It’s not work as usual. As the lockdown goes on, you can expect a roller coaster of emotions – from coping well and performing one day, to being upset, stressed or anxious the following day. Here are some tips to get your team through the crisis:

• Pay attention. Never has it been more important to make sure that your employees feel heard and understood. Whether it’s to do with work-related issues or personal difficulties, take the time to have a conversation and explore possible solutions.
• Be transparent. People get anxious when they don’t have information. Communicate, even when nothing is changing.
• Don’t generalise. Employees are individuals who are all having different emotional responses. Don’t use the same blanket approach with everyone.
• Be empathetic. Recognise that this is difficult and express that you understand that stress and anxiety are normal at a time like this.
• Take an interest in their personal circumstances. Be sensitive to how comfortable the employee is to share information, and be mindful of professional boundaries. Remind them that LifeAssist is there for household dependents.
• Cues are flags that can trigger support for your employees.
• Body language. If you have the benefit of meeting in person, or in a video conference, you can look out for non-verbal cues that an employee is not coping, like posture and facial expression. Even when someone is silent, they are communicating through their body language.
• Verbal Cues. If much of your communication is happening telephonically, be conscious of verbal cues that suggest that someone might not be coping. Listen for things like tone of voice, agitated speech, or being withdrawn from the conversation.
• Written communication. Monitor the tone, understanding of content, and turnaround times for responses.
• Use of media. Agree on e-etiquette. Observe punctuality for scheduled meetings and the time when electronic communication is downloaded, read or sent. Reach out when there is a media silence!

Look for patterns. For example, a lack of personal hygiene, an irritable mood, general disinterest, or drastic weight loss or gain might be signs of depression; whereas procrastination, overworking, or irregular sleep patterns might be signs of anxiety or stress; or forgetfulness, disinterest, interpersonal tension, over-sleeping and missing deadlines could suggest substance abuse; and disengagement, loss of motivation, inability to complete tasks and fatigue could be signs that a person is overwhelmed or approaching burnout.

You don’t need to diagnose what is wrong. You just need to do the right thing – show them that you are aware and offer support by way of a referral to the EWP.

• Be realistic. Assure your employees that your expectations adjust with the situation and that you understand that work is impacted by individual circumstances. If work performance becomes an on-going issue, consult with the employee and send a Manager Referral Form to LifeAssist so that counselling can be arranged.
• Be flexible. Change is constant right now. Being flexible will help you to manage your own stress, putting you in a better position to address other people’s stress levels.
• Be aware of information overload. Don’t bombard employees with stats and information about COVID-19. Encourage them to get information from reliable sources like government websites or the CDC, but don’t force it on them. For some people, avoidance is a coping skill.

If one of your employees is not coping emotionally, encourage them to contact LifeAssist for counselling support. The National Support Centre is also available to support you as the manager. Counselling services are private and confidential and are offered in all 11 official languages.

 

Author: Tarryn Cox (BA Psychology Hons)

Sources: The Canadian Mental Health Association

                 CompEWP