A new study has revealed a serious decline in employee wellbeing as we enter the second year of the pandemic.
Additional work and caregiving responsibilities are the main reasons for the continuing decline in wellbeing and mental health, according to the meQuilibrium study. A quarter of survey respondents reported that they had taken on new job responsibilities during the pandemic; and among those workers, job stress was more than four times higher and feelings of burnout more than doubled. Disturbingly, there was more than a four-fold decrease in motivation, compared to members who had not taken on additional job responsibilities.
“While new work assignments and roles are commonplace, what’s different today is that it adds another layer of stress onto employees whose wellbeing has already been diminished,” explained Andrew Shatte, PhD, Chief Knowledge Officer and Co-Founder of meQuilibrium. “Employees are also challenged by new caregiving responsibilities at home; taking care of children, virtual schooling; and more. This can also impact wellbeing and motivation and many people don’t have the ability to adapt.”
STAFF BURNOUT & STRESS
Nearly one in five workers took on a new caregiving role due to the pandemic, according to the study. These caregivers reported a 6X increase in health worries; 16% increase in burnout; 2X increase in work stress and nearly a 2X decrease in motivation. Approximately 37% of men caregivers and 47% of women caregivers had trouble finding time for self-care. Women – already at the forefront of balancing work and family challenges – were 40% more likely than men to report taking on a new role as caregiver.
“We are at a crucial moment in the pandemic when it comes to employee mental health,” stated Dr Shatte. “While hope is on the horizon, we are still observing a continued slide in well-being and motivation; and a decreasing ability to handle self-care.”
Additional findings revealed that:
- Those who had poor emotion control had a 73% decrease in motivation.
- Workers with low energy showed an 82% increase in physical symptoms of stress; a 92% decrease in motivation; and a 61% increase in job worries.
- Disengaged workers had a 112% increase in burnout symptoms.
PRIORITISING WELLBEING
In short, taking on new caregiving and additional work responsibilities comes with a significant cost to worker wellbeing and motivation. HR executives must continue to develop strategies and programmes to protect and support their workforces through this crisis. The pandemic remains a danger to workforce wellbeing and productivity. So HR leaders must take even stronger actions to repair the damage to their organisations and the wellbeing of their workforces before it’s too late.
In particular, improving key resilience factors helps to inoculate workers from the worst of the pandemic’s impacts. The study found that members who improved their resilience skills – emotional control, energy and engagement – had small decreases; or showed improvements in wellbeing during the second half of the pandemic. “The three E’s – emotion control, energy and engagement are crucial resilience skills,” explained Dr Shatte. “We know that employees are struggling. But, if HR leaders make resilience a priority, we can move the needle and reverse the dip in worker wellbeing.”
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A recent UK survey shared similar results, revealing that parents working from home are fatigued from an ‘always on’ culture since the pandemic began, as reported.
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