Analysis
By s1jobs
In the months and years immediately prior to the pandemic the concept of empathy within the workplace was largely either an alien notion, or one to be brushed aside with some well-crafted lip service. It might have been deemed “important”, but not enough so to stick any significant investment behind it.
What no one could have then guessed was how the pandemic would push practically everyone to previously unimagined limits, with warnings of workforce burnout on a massive scale.
Recent research in the UK found a whopping 92 per cent of GPs reporting a rise in patients seeking help for work-related stress since the onset of Covid, with 68% experiencing increases in the last three months. Lockdown restrictions may have eased, but the anxiety stoked by financial insecurity, the return to the workplace and increasing workloads rages on.
More concerning in that survey by Censuswide is the prediction that worse is yet to come, with 80% of GPs expecting to see a further rise in demand. When asked about their employers’ wellbeing strategies, nearly three-quarters of patients described these policies as “ineffective”.
Four out of 10 patients who contacted their GP about work-related stress were signed off sick. If the predicted increase in those seeking help materialises, the resulting wave of absences will have a huge impact on organisations already struggling to fill vacancies as they recover from the economic shock of the public health emergency.
The World Health Organisation defines burnout – the handmaiden to stress and anxiety – as “chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed”. It is increasingly accepted that burnout resides in organisations and company cultures, rather than individuals.
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Employers are therefore duty-bound to handle the worries and concerns of staff with a credible commitment to employees’ well-being. In doing so it’s imperative to realise that one size does not fit all, as individuals will have different concerns and needs.
Asked what they thought might alleviate the rise in workplace stress, GPs suggested mental health training for managers, the provision of flexible working and improved wellbeing tools.
Empathy – the ability to understand and share the feelings of others – is critical when it comes to devising effective programmes to fend off what many believe is shaping up to be a widespread staffing crisis. No longer something that is “nice to have”, these are now vital tools to expedite business growth.
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