Employee well-being and belonging during the times of self-quarantine and isolation
The COVID-19 pandemic has made a lot of business and individuals to revisit the way we work and interact with our partners and co-workers. Companies that has encouraged and invested in technologies to work from home all along had little to no disruption in asking their employees work from home during social distancing and self-quarantining period. While it might seem business as usual for those who are used to work remotely the current situation is not the same. There is a sense of uncertainty and panic. This isolation also has the worries of the toll it would take on the employees’ mental health. As Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging leaders it also our responsibility to acknowledge the impact this would have on our employees.
There are reports of increase in domestic violence during mandatory lockdown across regions. The fear of being isolated with their abusive partners and families, and the inability to access their support groups and resources are high. For LGBTQIA+ persons the quarantining also means being locked in a dysphoric household. As employers when employees are asked to work from home for the society’s wellbeing it is also important to focus on their safety and mental health.
Some of the steps that we could do are:
- Introduce virtual well-being sessions for employees.
- Leverage the Employee Resource Groups and look into opportunities where employees can get together virtually and have a sense of belonging and community.
- As most conferences and events stand cancelled as of today, it would be great to invite speakers to speak virtually. This also means there is an income for speakers, especially from under represented communities, during this time.
- Organise weekly or alternate day break-out sessions where employees are engaged in a discussion (or to listen) something apart from the everyday work and the pandemic.
This is also a time to stand with the community partners with whom we work. A lot of NGOs, community support-groups and collectives may not have invested in robust technology to continue their work or services remotely. Reach out to them and ask what support they require. For example; offering technological support to continue their work and community support would go a long way. As simple as inviting your partner to access your video conferencing tool for the next few weeks would be helpful. Many support groups would need this to carry on their weekly support group meetings. These are the times where we need to stick together (with enough distance of course) to be in support of each other.
