Linked – Survey Finds Employee Mental Health Suffering From ‘Political Turmoil’ and ‘Economic Uncertainty’
Nearly 75 percent of workers reported mood drops, citing current events, crime and finances as their leading worries.
How could workplaces make this better? Two things come to mind:
- Acknowledge the current state of the world. It’s beyond time for all of us to admit that what we do at work is unimportant in the face of the massive upheaval, shock, stripping of fundamental civil rights, and utter incompetence of our government. We’re watching a constant barrage of threats to the very existence of our system of government while having to pretend that the spreadsheet we’re working on is the most critical thing in the world.
- Pay people enough money so that they can live and stop the mass layoffs every time the stock price dips a little bit. Much of the financial stress people face is because they don’t make enough money to pay for things like childcare and are constantly worried about losing their jobs. If you want to help your employees struggling with stress, anxiety, and burnout, there’s a good place to start.
Now, company leaders may not be able to do much beyond acknowledging the world’s reality, but the second issue is entirely their responsibility.
Do I think that is going to change? Probably not. In the current economy, CEOs and large stockholders are getting richer by the minute, even as the rest of us get poorer and suffer the anxiety related to financial uncertainty. They don’t have any incentive to change things, and as our government creates even more uncertainty in the economy, there’s also not much risk regarding retention. Leaving is just as stressful as staying.
It won’t always be this way, though. Your employees will remember and act accordingly when given the chance.
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