In treating the COVID-19 pandemic, the world is scrambling to
build enough tents to treat those infected with a deadly, highly contagious virus.
But we’re not setting up the second tent for psychological help and we will pay the price within three to six months after the end of this unprecedented lockdown, at a time when we will need all able bodies to help the world economy recover.
Employees in South Africa will return to work psychologically crippled, and this will destroy more companies than the lockdown itself. Taking action now can mitigate the toxic effects of COVID-19 lockdowns.
“For companies to survive after the lockdown, they will need employees who can function more effectively than ever before. Not only must they recoup what has been lost, but they will also face an extremely tough economic climate”, says Mark Baker, CEO of Mygrow.
Prior to Covid-19, large scale studies showed that the workforce in South Africa was already struggling.In their global workforce assessments, Gallup found that South Africa’s workplace showed dismally low employee engagement levels of only 9%-15% over the past 7 years. Alongside these figures, mental health issues relating to anxiety and depression,further dampened the performance of more than 38% of employees.
Mental health issues in the workplace have been an area of concern for some time, but with the COVID-19 crisis, the emotional challenges employees are confronting have spiked.
However, as dire as the current reality is, there are significant upside opportunities.
The current moment could be used to reset numerous psychosocial factors within organisations, setting them on a new trajectory to outperform their past capabilities.
“Simple processes and techniques, when implemented effectively and at scale, can radically improve the psychosocial health and functioning of individuals in organisations. Rooted in Positive Psychology, these Emotional Intelligence techniques have been correlated with 34%-139% of increased revenue (depending on the industry), and a 71% improvement in staff productivity (when leaders take them seriously).
Moreover, even when just the leaders’ EQ is developed, profitability of their areas of responsibility increase by an average of 2% per area, and employees in complex roles have been shown to outperform their peers by as much as 127%”, explains Baker.
Simply put, companies post-Covid-19 will rise and fall in proportion to their ability to
restore and lead the effective psychosocial functioning of their people.
