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Mental health issues have increased since coronavirus showed up. As we face unprecedented changes in our franchises and daily lives, the toll takes many forms: anxiety, depression, sleep loss, and fear. Our current restrictions and environment are affecting us all. We simply do not know what might happen next, and we don’t have the confidence that we will handle it successfully.
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For franchisees, this is a time to provide support for employees. It is the time to commit to employee health and well-being. And it is the time to communicate about available options to assist struggling employees openly.
- Be aware and ask the questions. Whether through virtual meetings or in the workplace, keep the personal conversations going. Ask specifically how children are coping and what has been difficult in the last week. Normally, we will share personal triumphs and concerns, and it’s important to remain aware of the unusual hurdles. Provide the opportunity for employee concerns to surface.
- Eliminate frustrations. If employees are working remotely, technology can be stressful. For those in the workplace, they might find themselves trying to cox uncooperative customers to wear face coverings. In both cases, employees are doing things they have never done before (nor ever thought they’d do), and it’s stressful. Do what you can to provide training, good equipment and a strong commitment to support their efforts as they support your franchise.
- Encourage self-care. Maybe this means utilizing an EAP benefit or encouraging healthy activities like yoga, meditation, and exercise. Maybe a therapist could be a guest speaker for a meeting to get conversations going. Offer links to healthy cooking pages, or spring for healthy lunches. Or go ahead and have a virtual or small, outdoor happy hour one afternoon to act like real colleagues.
- Don’t put lipstick on the pig. Mental health should not be disguised or ignored. Talking about employee stressors and their impact is important. Talk up the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) if you have one. Encourage talk therapy as needed. Suicide rates rise and fall with the economy, so don’t dress up a stressful situation to make it look better. Be sure to listen carefully and see things as they are without any false facades.
- Have a heart. Good leadership also includes some sympathy for employees’ situations. Demonstrate your care with communication that acknowledges how difficult a time they are having. And remind them how much you value each of them. No one knows exactly how work life will look in a month or a year, and that can be daunting (probably for you, too).
This time of uncertainty will pass eventually, but let’s negotiate our way through it in a supportive and empathetic way. Encourage employees to focus on their mental health needs, address their concerns openly, and respond proactively. The reward will be a healthy and productive franchise whose staff will recover from this unique and mentally stressful time.
Anne Daniells is a co-owner of Enterprising Solutions, a professional services firm specializing in corporate communication and financial improvement for businesses where she shares decades of corporate and entrepreneurial experience—including franchise ownership—in her writings on business culture. She has authored hundreds of articles for publications including AllBusiness.com, TweakYourBiz.com, and MSN.com. Reach out via her website for more on where corporate culture, communication, and human architecture collide.