Employee health and well-being
Employee health and well-being — both physical and mental — have become a priority as firms seek to enable their people to thrive while working from home.
Recognizing different experiences and new challenges
A key element in enabling employees to remain happy and productive while working from home during COVID-19 has been recognizing that each person’s experience is different.
“We know that in the current environment, everyone has a different situation. We’re working to deliver a number of solutions that are tied to the unique needs of our people and we are empowering our leaders to do the same. We consistently ask ourselves, are we leading with empathy while driving a business result?” said Rory Melick, Managing Director, Head of Employee Experience at Lord Abbett.
COVID-19 has also brought new challenges that need to be addressed — there has been a rise in “video fatigue,” which refers to the unique mental exhaustion associated with the increase in online video conferencing.
Asset manager DWS Group is actively working to alleviate this video fatigue among employees by providing different mediums of collaboration, such as audio calls.
Making health and well-being a priority
Firms have stepped up their overall focus on employee mental health and well-being during this time.
Principal Global Asset Management has found that nurturing personal connection has helped to safeguard employees’ mental health. Aware that employees might have heightened personal needs and be facing additional challenges during this time, the firm homed in on personal interactions with a framework and leadership to extend its existing culture of personal care. The result: employees are sharing more about their personal goals and life challenges with one another, and it’s creating a stronger bond.
Lord Abbett has increased efforts to ensure employees have access to the latest information about their health benefits and employee assistance programs. The business has also provided access to a meditation app and is prioritizing mental well-being support for their people.
At DWS Group, a half-hour mindfulness session during which employees are invited to dial in to a virtual room and meditate is proving a popular way for people to take a step back. The firm has also provided resources to support mental health, meditation, child care and elder care, recognizing that every employee has a different situation. As with other firms, management has been involved and supportive, encouraging people to engage with the available materials.
Planning for the future
Executives at all the firms who shared their plans with Bloomberg agree that reentering the physical workplace is going to be a major challenge for many employees. Leading and planning for the future with empathy is going to be essential to getting it right. Giving employees a significant say in any return-to-work plans was a common theme.
Barings is prepared for when employees feel comfortable returning to the office, whenever they decide it’s the right time.
“We put together a task force of groups from our business continuity team, our legal, HR, communications…” said Chief Communications Officer Cheryl Krauss. “If you want to return to the office, you have to submit a request to be approved by your manager. We have a text message that goes out every morning that says, ‘What are your plans?’ It asks about your health. And then we have a real good tally of everything going on.”
AllianceBernstein has had a number of employees ask whether it’s going to be possible to work from home permanently. It’s a question Robert McWilliams, Chief Operating Officer of Global Technology and Operations, doesn’t have an answer to — and he has been open to that fact.
