This text is taken from Courrier de l’économie. Click here to subscribe.
Have you noticed that your employer is offering you new psychological counseling services? That he offers you a more flexible schedule? That the human resources teams consult you to know your values and your expectations? In short, are your bosses stepping up their efforts to promote your happiness at work?
If so, know that they are far from alone, according to the collaborative network in mental health, well-being and quality of life at work Global-Watch, which brings together major employers in France. , Canada and Belgium. The latter are more and more obliged to dwell on these questions, if we trust the president and founder of the organization, since the workers “Fall in combat, more than during the pandemic”.
“The trigger for companies is the loss of productivity, absences due to mental health, the drop in the level of commitment and the difficulty in retaining employees,” explains Marie-Claude Pelletier.
In a webinar last Thursday, his team presented six issues of growing concern to employers. They have been uncovered through extensive media monitoring and consultation with academic experts and member employers. Here is a brief summary.
Mental health and fatigue
“When you look at the war in Ukraine, the inflation, the economic instability, the climate issues, the whole legacy of the pandemic in terms of anxiety, it means that when you arrive at work, you already have been exposed to mental health risks,” observes Ms.me Peltier.
Management teams are more aware. We see more and more measures such as training on psychological distress signals, volunteer ambassador or sentinel programs and coaching managers about it.
The mental health of executives and business leaders is also on the agenda. They have had to manage crises, instability and the disruption of supply chains in addition to dealing, in some cases, with financial risks. “The higher you are in the hierarchy, the more you are alone, says Mme Peltier. They often have sandwich roles, which are not easy. »
Meaning and commitment
This is the era of silent resignations and major questioning, to which the reduction in social ties in telework is no stranger. Business operations are destabilized by a high turnover rate. Human resources managers try to nurture the commitment of workers by re-establishing links between them and with the company. We make an effort to organize social activities. We redefine the tasks so that they stick to the aspirations of each employee.
Flexibility and adaptation
Employers are becoming more accommodating when it comes to work schedules and location. With the labor shortage, they want to retain seniors, parents and travel-loving young people. We are seeing the emergence of services to make life easier for workers, such as catering and entertainment, daycare centers and menstrual leave. The four-day week is the subject of several conclusive experiments.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Diversity strategies are expanding to include not only gender and culture, but also sexual orientation, religion, neurodiversity, disabilities. Substantive work is carried out to avoid discrimination in addition to welcoming and promoting various worker profiles.
Violence, harassment and incivility
It’s easier to hate those you don’t see regularly in person. Social connections prevent conflict, harassment and incivility. Thus, teleworking has caused incidents to multiply, according to Mme Peltier. Companies establish policies and equip managers and employees to better manage these situations.
Environment
Eco-anxiety can influence the well-being of workers. Conscious, they are more and more keen that their employer adopts concrete measures to reduce its environmental impacts. In particular, we see the establishment of employee committees aimed at greening the company.