also remember not to overlook their own mental well-being . The need for self-care isn ’ t limited to employees , after all .
“ You can ’ t pour from an empty cup ,” says Erin Schad , a wellness benefits analyst with Kohler Co .“ You can ’ t give someone what you don ’ t have yourself .” In other words , to properly care for employees , a manager must first care for themselves , and that means an honest look in the mirror .“ You can brush it aside as much as you want , but I can ’ t be a good mom if I ’ m not taking care of myself ,” Schad says .“ I can ’ t be a good partner if I ’ m not taking care of myself . And it ’ s the same thing with co-workers .”
By being honest about their own mental well-being , leaders may inspire others in the workplace to feel empowered to talk about their struggles . If they do , it ’ s important for a manager to be ready .
“ We have to provide so much grace right now for one another as human beings and not just go straight to the performance-issue mentality that we normally would go to because of all of these variables ,” Schad says .“ You have to be equipped to have those discussions more than we ever have before because that approach is not allowing for the grace that people need right now to get through this together . And I think that ’ s a reset for a lot of people that just go straight to performance .
“ Let ’ s get back to why is that happening and be open to the response , because it ’ s probably not what you ’ re expecting to hear , but that ’ s all a part of educating ourselves to and having some of those trainings .”
DO : Stay Connected
Staying closely connected to employees can be a challenge in an age of remote work and physical distancing , so checking in with them frequently is crucial . If employees are working remotely , managers often have an actual view inside an employee ’ s home . That means potentially seeing warning signs of trouble . And at the same time , the remote work dynamic can be challenging for managers because most of the employee ’ s workday is unsupervised , which can lead to suspicions when an employee isn ’ t performing at their normal level inside the office .
“ It ’ s very easy for people to hide more ,” says Kristine Huffman , a licensed clinical therapist and a partner with Hutchinson Consulting .“ If they ’ re not doing Zoom , for instance , you can ’ t even see if people are really taking care of themselves . Do they appear to be disheveled or not practicing good hygiene ? I think we should ask our employees who are working from home to be as groomed as they would be if they were at work .
“ Are you having individual check-in calls with each of your team if they ’ re working remotely just to kind of monitor how they are feeling ? And then if you sense that something ’ s wrong with that person , make sure that you point them in the direction where they can get help .”
Some signs that an employee may need someone to reach out are if they are caught in a negativity loop , they are duller than usual , they are on edge , they take quick offense or they are jittery . When the performance is impacted by the issue , it must be addressed .
“ You ’ re not doing anybody any favors by ignoring that stuff ,” Huffman says .“ It ’ s a hard thing to do . I ’ ve had to do it several times over the course of my career where I ’ m feeling so much
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