Implications for employee wellbeing as organisation prepare for recovery phase

Implications for employee wellbeing as organisation prepare for recovery phase

Around a quarter of employees admit to “getting away with” working more than two hours’ less each day while working from home, according to a Mind Gym survey of UK employees this month. 

The research among more than 2,000 staff suggested the fall off in working hours was being caused by a combination of negative feelings around lockdown and burnout. More than a third said they had experienced negative impacts on their mental health and a decline in productivity while WFH from the lockdown.

In the same week, another survey has suggested the opposite: NordVPN found that among its clients, staff were typically working 11 hours a day.

“Employers are entering a difficult crossover period in terms of the leeway given to staff. More people are returning to work, one way or another. Many are still WFH and struggling to control the amount of hours they work,” said Eugene Farrell, chair of EAPA. 

“There’s a sense of the worst of the crisis having passed and an urgent need for organisations to recover and re-build operations. This also means they are looking for employees to be returning to ‘normal’ levels of productivity, and having to be more alert to the potential for anyone trying to take advantage of the exceptional circumstances.

“But who’s in genuine need of concessions, who’s really struggling and in need of support? It’s a minefield for line managers and HR. That’s where professional, independent support from services like an EAP is so important.

“It’s now that HR need to be thinking carefully about lessons from lockdown, and what kinds of measures need to be kept: what has made the culture work through difficult times, and what’s been most important for employee wellbeing – in other words, what has made the organisation more human and more resilient.”