The importance of checking in with employees to ask “how are you … today”

December 13, 2020, by Tam Campbell Trant | Work Environment and Policies

We're now 10 months into this pandemic and currently in the second wave.  Workplace modifications have been done: we have plexiglass barriers, directional flows and hand sanitizers in place.  Some employees are back to working onsite, while others are still working from home.  And whether we’re in the workplace or just out in public, we continue to wear masks and physical distance. 

As we head into winter, and into our darker months, cases are rising across Canada.  We’re facing renewed restrictions and some of us are feeling COVID fatigue.  Given all of this, now is a really good time to ask your employees: how are you doing … today?   

According to a recent Huffington Post article, “6 Questions To Ask Instead Of ‘How Are You?’, According To Therapists”, it’s important we check in on each other in a meaningful way because 2020 has been an unprecedented year.  We must go beyond the usual, surface level ‘how are you’ to really connect with each other.  Since everyone has been impacted by this pandemic, employers and Managers can take some of the Huffington Post advice and apply it to their teams. 

What’s important is an open dialogue, and by having them, managers may discover new insight from their employees.  They may realize some employees are finding it difficult to work from home; these team members may be missing the social interaction with their colleagues and would prefer to be onsite.  Alternatively, they may discover that some employees who are working onsite may find it particularly stressful; perhaps these employees would rather work from home – and are struggling because they don’t have that option.  There has been no perfect solution and 2020 has been challenging for everyone.   

As an employer find out how your team members are feeling on that particular day you reach out to them; whether or not they are coping and what support (if any) they may need.   If your company has an EAP (Employee Assistance Program) in place, remind your employees that it’s there for them should they need it.  Many benefit programs also cover mental health services where clinical counsellors, therapists and/or social workers could be accessed.  

As the year heads towards a close, there is hope on the horizon with the release of promising results from vaccine trials.  But until those vaccines are readily available, and we continue our workplace and social modifications, make a point of checking in with your team.  Talk with them, one by one, and listen to how it’s going for them today. 

Available resources:

www.mentalhealthcommission.ca/workplace

https://www.workplacestrategiesformentalhealth.com/

https://www.guardingmindsatwork.ca/