Brandon Laws talks workplace “musts” with Diane Schwartz, CEO of Ragan Communications and the Workplace Wellness Insider. With an emphasis on the effect that COVID-19 has had on mental health, Diane talks about what employees expect and what employers need to do to make employees feel safe, heard, and connected in this new normal. Learn more about promoting wellness, increasing workplace connection, and aligning employee-employer values by listening to this episode.
GUEST AT A GLANCE
Diane Schwartz is the Chief Executive Officer of Ragan Communications, a media event company, and Ragan’s Workplace Wellness Insider, “an online publication dedicated to giving leaders in HR, wellness, and communications the insights, ideas, and strategies that align employee health and engagement with organizational goals.” In addition to her 25 years of media communications experience, Diane is also a former journalist and a wish-granter with the Make a Wish Foundation.
A QUICK GLIMPSE INTO OUR PODCAST
🔊 Podcast: Transform Your Workplace, Sponsored by Xenium HR
🎙️ Host: Brandon Laws
📋 In his own words: “The Transform Your Workplace podcast is your go-to source for the latest workplace trends, big ideas, and time-tested methods straight from the mouths of industry experts and respected thought-leaders.”
THE PRIORITY OF MENTAL HEALTH
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health has come to the forefront as a priority issue for HR and business leaders and their employees. According to Gallup Poll data, there has been a year-on-year decrease in those who identify as “happy,” with 20-30% who feel like their mental health and the health of those around them has plummeted in the last year.
According to Diane Schwartz, this past year has shown that organizations can and should play a role, holistically, in everything that we’re doing. She said, “when you look at it on the political spectrum, the healthcare spectrum, and the financial spectrum, brands and organizations have really stepped up or have reframed their purpose so that they’re doing more.” And employees have come to expect that from their employers. “So just as they expect their employer to take a stand on social justice, vaccinations, or other areas, they also need to take a stand with their internal customers, which are their employees.”
PODCAST EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
Removing the stigma
“I actually think the silver lining in 2020, and even right now as we’re still experiencing this pandemic, is that mental health is being de-stigmatized. People will talk to their friends and colleagues about other health issues to the point of TMI, but when it comes to mental health, people feel very self-conscious about that. So I do think organizations are doing a pretty good job or at least are trying harder to de-stigmatize mental health.”
Widespread burnout
“In Ragan’s Workplace Wellness Insider, we write about this every week. We’re talking to wellness, HR, and communications professionals and other business leaders, and right now, employees are feeling very burned out — the divide between work and life is just one big clash. […] There’s a sense of being always “on.” I think employers are hearing from employees that they need their personal space. They are expecting employers to step up and be mindful about it.”
Changing the way we work
“I believe when we do get back to the office, there’s going to be a different way of working. There’s going to be more connection. You’re going to get back to the office to collaborate, to have meetings, to connect, and you’re going to spend your time working from home on the more cerebral, the bigger projects, things like that.”
Promoting wellness and connection
“It starts with leadership and humanizing what’s going on at the top within larger organizations, especially where employees can feel very removed from the decisions being made. It’s about going back to transparency and authenticity and inclusion. In the last year, people have really clarified their value system — realizing how short life can be, really caring about one another, and appreciating empathy within our organization. And I think that can go a long way in making a better work environment.”
Finding alignment
“People want their values and the values of the company that they work for to align. And one of the things that we’re seeing is this idea of [finding] a company’s purpose in their communities that they serve and getting their house in order before they go out there and start touting what a great company they are. I think communicators, HR, and wellness professionals can really play a very positive role in making sure that their organization is living by the values that they’re touting externally. Then, employees will be really proud to be working there.”
Looking to the future
“I think there’s more to look forward to now than there was only three or four months ago. There’s a lot of progress being made all the way around. With vaccinations, the economy will start to bounce back. People will start to travel again and will likely return to the workplace by the fall.”
LEARN MORE
Want to reach out to Diane and learn more about Workplace Wellness Insider? Head on over to ragan.com where you can read up on all things related to the workplace.