Sharp increase in burnout among WFH techies get HRs to tackle stress with fun virtual engagement programs

Before you begin reading this article, I suggest you take a minute out, shut your eyes and transport your mind to the pre-pandemic days of your work life. What a bliss, isn’t it? Sipping that not so piping hot coffee while chit-chatting with your favorite colleague seems like a flash from yesteryears.

I am sure you would agree with me that these small yet mood-elevating chit chats can never be brought to today’s pandemic induced work from home office scenarios. And, today, working in this solitude has certainly affected the mental health in the majority of us, where we are struggling to differentiate workplace and home. Sudden overload of work, working under stress to meet short deadlines, and working towards newer expectations from a home environment is playing havoc on our normal emotional quotient and that is dangerously leading to burnout in most of us.

Burnout in an employee has now become the largest concern for an organization and I have statistical analysis to prove this. The burnout rate has evidentially gotten worse since the COVID-19 pandemic began. In the US, 73% of working professionals reported being burned out in April compared to 61% in mid-February. This analysis was found by a US-based professional network called ‘blind’ in their research titled - The State of Burnout 2020 (https://usblog.teamblind.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/StateofBurnoutCovid19.pdf).

The report cites that nearly 27% owed the burnout to the reason being ‘no separation between work and life’ followed by unmanageable workload (20.5%), and job security concerns (nearly 19%) as reasons for burnout during COVID-19.

Khushpinder Singh, Counselling Psychologist, Well Being Cell, Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Delhi rightly observes that working under pressure can cause physical, emotional, and behavioral problems that can affect the health, well-being, mental alertness, and personal and professional relationships. According to Singh, the pressure can also cause defensiveness, lack of motivation, difficulty concentrating, accidents, reduced productivity, and interpersonal conflict. Too much pressure/stress can also cause minor problems such as sleep-loss, irritability, backaches, or headaches, and can also contribute to potentially life-threatening diseases such as high blood pressure and heart disease.

In the employer lies the employee’s mental wellness

Recently, Chicago-based provider of total wellbeing, mental health, and digital mental health services firm Morneau Shepell released its monthly Mental Health Index report for the month of June. The June report marked the third consecutive month with a negative mental health score. The findings show that even with parts of USA re-opening after nearly three months of lockdown, financial risk and feelings of isolation remained the top threats to American employees' mental health.

“As the United States continues to experience the impact of COVID-19, the Mental Health Index shows the ongoing negative effect the pandemic is having on American employees' quality of life and mental health,” said the firm’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Stephen Liptrap.

An even stronger correlation is evident between the Mental Health Index scores and perception of how well their employer has been supporting the mental health of employees.

The report stresses a key indicator that there is a strong correlation between scores on the Mental Health Index and the individual's view of how their employer managed health and safety issues during the pandemic. An even stronger correlation is evident between the Mental Health Index scores and perception of how well their employer has been supporting the mental health of employees.

That is why S V Nathan, Partner and Chief Talent Officer at Deloitte India says that his company, Deloitte, has taken several steps to ensure the company’s employees do not lose out on the positive mental health score.

“Burnout while working from home is a real concern since it’s often easy to forget how long you’ve been working. That’s because many of what it takes to get to the workplace, like rushing to catch a particular mode of transport, to avoid traffic, does not exist. A break for water cooler conversations, chats and simply the eagerness to get back home at the end of the day, do not exist. Instead, a young professional may feel the pressure to keep working, fearing that if they aren’t “available” on Skype, a senior may think that they’re not putting in the effort,” says Nathan.

Moreover, we have had a flexible hour’s policy much before the pandemic, which encourages our people to work from home. Additionally, if someone wants personal time off, they can continue to take that, as always.

Deloitte has rather been too quick to place a channel that tends to all employee woes working from home. Nathan elaborates, “One of the steps we have taken is to officially organize wellness sessions in the afternoons, and physical fitness sessions immediately before and after conventional working hours so that there is some resemblance to what our people may do under normal circumstances. Moreover, we have had a flexible hour’s policy much before the pandemic, which encourages our people to work from home. Additionally, if someone wants personal time off, they can continue to take that, as always.

As a rule, our performance management approach features regular one-on-one check-in conversations between team leaders and members. As part of the guidelines, leaders are also supposed to have well-being focused conversation in these check-ins to ensure that no one is overburdened and is able to manage well.”

But, adapting to the new normal is not so easy for everyone. Radha Subramanian, Marriage and Family Counsellor, Nalika Training and Consultancy LLP and Inhouse Counsellor, Aspire Systems says that in the last few days 90% of the calls she received were from employees who have never consulted her before, telling her that they are unable to adapt to the new normal.

Radha Subramanian says, “Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a large number of employees across the globe had to start working from home. Restrictions on movement, the lockdown of public places, and lack of other interests have led to an unprecedented exposure to digital technology. I’ve also noticed that the line between employees’ professional and personal life has blurred and this has ultimately led to a lack of concentration at work, conflicts in the family, and also feelings of isolation. Virtual meetings now lack a sense of personal touch and employees with poor communication skills struggle to voice out their opinions. This adds to their stress.”

Urging a solution, Subramanian stresses on the need here to create a professional milieu at home and to have a clear demarcation between work and leisure. “Employees should build a personal rapport with their team-mates and discuss social issues also besides work. Managers must try to engage their teams in some fun activity that can reduce their stress,” says Subramanian.

Aspire, that is why, emphasizes on the mental well-being of its Aspirians. Through a wellness initiative called MindSpa, employees have been given the opportunity to reach out to Radha Subramanian. They are encouraged to call whenever they experience anxiety.

Employee engagement programs to maintain mental wellness

Engaging employees in virtual fun activities does have a positive bearing on mental wellness. Tanuj Gupta, Vice President & Head of HR – Comviva Technologies, provides proof to this with his company’s initiatives of several kinds to keep their employee’s mental make up in the pink of its health. Lots of short engagement activities are planned every week for its employees and their families to bond like drawing competition for kids, tombola, sudoku, emote travel games, international yoga day, etc.

The first two weeks were chaotic, people had health-related anxieties, increased household chores to manage in the absence of house support staff, lesser network/bandwidth support/call drops, and several other unforeseen challenges.

Tanuj Gupta, while interacting with V&D, said, “When work from home was announced, there was a great degree of anxiety amongst managers around making work happen remotely and trusting employees to be really working while at home. The first two weeks were chaotic, people had health-related anxieties, increased household chores to manage in the absence of house support staff, lesser network/bandwidth support/call drops, and several other unforeseen challenges. We ascertained employees that all measures were in put in place to create a seamless transition from office to home over the two-week window with infrastructure support, speaking with customers to reset expectations, detailing out our business continuity plan and its execution.

Also for us, initial chaos started when we first put all travel on a freeze in early March this year. While Leadership was concerned about losing revenue due to cancellations of scheduled client visits and deal closures but they prioritized the health of our people. This measure was appreciated by all our people.”

According to Tanuj Gupta, Comviva is currently grappling with the challenge of digital switch-off and finding creative ways to shut out mentally in this 24*7 digitally enabled world–working across 96 countries, different time zones, supporting clients remotely round the clock and more. Most people feel that their time in meetings has gone up. What could earlier be done over a side conversation, now requires checking the availability of people and blocking calendars to even small closures, says Gupta.

Gupta further reveals that there are several initiatives Comviva has conceived to keep employee mental health wellness on a check. Comviva’s Global Employee Assistance Program, YourDost allows employees to speak with psychologists and other experts anonymously for any kind of emotional and mental issues.

A virtually conducted ComShare (bi-annual leadership forum with all employees) followed by Leadership Open Houses and regular Comconnects (a unit level communication platform) to stay connected, share business updates, address worries, and dispel rumors also was stepped up as part of the efforts. ‘Chat with CEO”, a forum for people to ask any question to the CEO directly was also put in place, informs Gupta.

Another interesting launch from Comviva is their #WFH Diaries, which is a communication series including productivity hacks & inputs of the company’s WFH veterans on how to manage work & personal lives.

Another interesting launch from Comviva is their #WFH Diaries, which is a communication series including productivity hacks & inputs of the company’s WFH veterans on how to manage work & personal lives. A positive reinforcement program appreciates employee efforts by awarding simple badges that are handed out on the click of a button. In another program, by Comviva a social media platform is created for people to showcase what fun stuff they do while WFH.

Redesigning HR Policy to suit mental wellness

The pandemic no doubt has caused several changes to happen and most organizations are now redesigning their company policies to suit WFH conditions.

Varun Saxena, co-Founder and CEO of startup company Bolo Indya says his company is strong on being committed to support its employees with the option to work from the comfort of their homes and at the same time take continuous efforts to encourage their mental wellness amidst the ongoing crisis.

Varun says, “Bolo Indya has redrafted a new WFH policy which sponsors the work from home area at the employees’ house as per which it provides - work stations, wifi, back support sitting facility, this is going to be sponsored by the company. Employees need to ensure that there is a dedicated work from home area away from distractions. Also, the company will be taking care of the operational expenses of AC in the WFH area of the employees’ house. There will be mandatory 6 leaves in the quarter to ensure work balance and prevent over exhausting while working from home. We follow a sports team culture at Bolo Indya, thus ensuring both the efficiency and holistic fitness of all our team members at all times. Our company-wide motto is, “ESP – Execution, Speed, Perfection” and we trust our team members that they would not let anything compromise the company’s objectives and time-bound goals irrespective of working from office or home.”

We follow a sports team culture at Bolo Indya, thus ensuring both the efficiency and holistic fitness of all our team members at all times.

Deloitte too has brought in an innovative change in policy. Through the company’s shared leave policy, employees are able to donate their unused leave to a common pool, from where those facing medical emergencies can draw, in case their leave runs out.

Early intervention in employee mental wellness

While there is so much we can discuss on how employers can help their employees work in their best state of mind from their homes, it also calls for the employee on their own to take the onus on his/her personal wellness. As Deloitte’s Nathan says taking care of each other is a collective responsibility and not only a top-down approach. Employees must speak up to someone in the organization or approach an appropriate wellness expert to get an early resolution.

As Khushpinder Singh of IIIT Delhi says there is a lot that one can do to stay positive. “Staying positive is very important in these scenarios and for the same one must limit their intake of false/exaggerated news about the COVID-19 pandemic. Following a positive mindset can go a long way in managing through the difficult times in your entire life, and not just into present times. No one ever lost their eyesight by looking on the bright side. So holding and sticking to the positive attitude can help one channelize the energy in the right direction.”

( Anusha Ashwin -   x-anushaa@cybermedia.co.in)