Psychological Impact On Employees: Caused by Covid-19 Pandemic

First discovered in Dec-2019 in Wuhan, Hubei, resulting an ongoing pandemic, Covid-19 is an infectious disease caused by SARS-COV-2 “Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona virus 2”. More than 12.4 M cases have been reported so far across 188 countries/territories. Over 6.82 Millions have recovered and more than 558000 have died.

Fever, cough, fatigue, breath shortness, minimization in ability to smell and taste are its primary symptoms.

Virus primarily spreads between people to people during close contact while sneezing, conversation/talking, etc. Frequent hand washing, maintaining physical distance from others are some of the most effective measures recommended.

The covid-19 crisis so far has not only impacted the health aspect of people but also created the economic fear for millions. The “UN Labor Body” has estimated the loss of 195 million jobs to be caused by this pandemic worldwide.

As a Deputy Manager- Human Resources, my intention behind writing this article is not only closely observe the fear of unemployment of employees but also opportunities that can be grasped by the end of the epidemic. This article will precisely cover the employment aspect and not the business opportunities.

Work resumes: Top management declares to re-open the office and resume production here at Hulas Auto Craft Pvt. Ltd, a sister concern of Golchha Group and the only vehicle assembly plant of Nepal which assembles all 2-wheelers and 3-wheelers of Bajaj brand. And finally plant re-operates on 14th June, 2020 as per the circular sent via email.

Psychological impact on employees: The Power of now”, a masterpiece, written by famous “Eckhart Tolle”, in the book he says that all negativity is caused by an accumulation of psychological time and denial of the present. According to him, all forms of fear, anxiety, unease, tension, stress, worry etc. are caused by too much future and not enough presence. Similarly emotions like guilt, regret, resentment, grievance, sadness, bitterness and all forms of non-forgiveness are caused by too much past and not enough presence. Here, I have tried to observe the psychological state of mind of employees specifically from production department those who are fearing about their possibility of being unemployed or other benefits to be cut off.

It was not easy for all the employees to attend their work on a pre-stated time because notice was circulated just a few week before the office needs to be started and no one is allowed to travel from one district to another without a pass. It was comparatively challenging for the staffs who live far from the office than the locals having their own private vehicles. However, all of them were able to attend to their work on time by their own obviously with some adjustments here and there.

During the early days just after the work resumes, all of the workers and staffs (both blue collar and white collar) were seen energetic and full of enthusiasm. All of them seemed mindful and full of positivity. However, in present days i am sensing some kind of fear and anxiety among the staffs specially from production department. Staffs are frequently visiting HR department with some genuine questions like will our contract get renewed?, will the company cuts all the benefits like house rent allowance,incentives, bonus, and other fringe benefits, etc. ?, is company planning to cut employees?, and if the company downsizes the employees, can i be safe? and other relevant queries. Here, i would like to relate the employees’ psychological state of mind with the emotions like uneasy, anxiety, tension, stress, worry and other forms of fear caused by too much future as mentioned above. It is for sure that every employee is too much worried about what he/she is going to do in future if they lose their job. I would like to request to all the employees of Hulas Auto Craft that decision regarding downsizing employees, cutting benefits, etc has not been made till date and please don’t listen to the rumors and always be in a positive state of mind.

What if employment is not continued? First of all, before going directly to suggestions i would like to clarify that this is only an assumption that service is dis-continued. Therefore, with my past experience and with reference to my academic specialization i would like to suggest some of the measures to those who will or already lost their job amid covid-19 crisis.

1. Don’t be personal: Firstly, one’s dis-continuation of service is purely a professional job. And one should not take it personally
2. Exit with a good relation: I would like to suggest to those staffs who unfortunately lost their job that please never leave the company with a bad relationship with your immediate supervisor or boss, factory head, HR Manager, etc. Because if you try to join new company and if they need reference, there is a high possibility that they might call them and ask about you. In that case, no one is going to tell any good about you and you might miss the opportunity.
3. Build network: Building a good and effective network with your old friends, your seniors, relatives, teachers, job agencies, etc. is highly recommended because they could assist you in finding new opportunities. In addition, social job site like LinkedIn is way more popular and good maintenance of such networking site is highly recommended. Brushing up your resumes and CV also helps a lot.
4. Positivity: Always try to surround yourself in a positive environment. There is a term in computer science “Garbage In — Garbage Out” that quiet resonates here. If you take negativity inside your mind, you are not going to deliver positive results. Hence, always be with positive people, watch positive videos, read powerful books, etc.

Though this pandemic has been effecting psychologically and economically many people around the globe, it will bring so much of opportunities for professional and career growth too. Once the pandemic is over, businesses will start again and everything will fall in its own place. And companies will require everyone (Customer, employees, vendor, supplier). And honest and hardworking employees have been always the top priority.

References: 1). The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle, 2). Bhagawat Gita: As it Is, 3). Dr. Bivek Bindra: Motivational speekar & Business Coach.

Sincerely,

Gobind Regmi: MBA- HR & Marketing

(Dy. Manager: Human Resources)