Leveraging Microengagement Questionnaires to Gauge Remote Employee Mental Health
The COVID-19 pandemic has done more than affect the economy or our collective physical health and wellbeing. After a year of remaining isolated, faced with uncertainty, and seeing the impact of COVID-19 on communities worldwide, the mental health of individuals has now become a priority as well. According to reports, it is estimated that at least four in ten adults are dealing with depression and/or anxiety due to the Coronavirus quarantine.
How can employers better serve their employees in regards to their mental health? If there is one thing 2020 has shown companies, it’s that people make a difference, and their mental health can ultimately lead to the overall success or failure of their position, department or even organization. Not only does supporting your employees help in increased productivity and retention, but ongoing support structures also lead to decreased health care and disability costs.
How Can You Support Mental Health In Your Company?
Employers are looking for ways to help support mental health in their team. However, they may not be aware of how exactly to go about this. Concannon has been using Conveyour to assist in this effort. The Conveyour micro engagement tool is a mobile learning platform that can be customized to fit individual organizations’ needs.
The Concannon Team has been utilizing this tool with our remote employees within the Toyota organization to best help determine their determination of value, how appreciated they are feeling, and what can be done to best support their remote work and mental health.
Previous employee mental health surveys sent out by Concannon have determined that employees appreciate a culture that is more open about mental health. How can your company support mental health? Here is what we found:
How Mental Health Impacts Your Employees
Understanding how mental health impacts your remote work culture is important. While it may seem like an easy transition from the office to home, the last year has impacted your employees more than you think. The microengagement questionnaire is sent out to understand how to best service your employees and their mental health needs. We’ll ask questions like:
- Do you feel supported by your company?
- How are you feeling today?
- Do you feel heard by the management team?
How can you be proactive after learning of needs?
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- Set up mandatory mental health training for your leaders so that they are better equipped at recognizing the signs of mental health distress in their employees.
- Train managers on what to do when they recognize these signs of distress in their employees.
- Set up an employee assistance program to help address some of the major impacting factors.
- Consider adding mental health improvement programs as perks for employees. Remote yoga sessions, therapy sessions, and even VR Apps can significantly improve employee wellbeing.
Have Mental Health Coverage As a Part of Your Health Care Plan
Healthcare plans seldom included mental health coverage in the past. It’s something that has received more interest and coverage the past few years, but the COVID-19 pandemic has opened up conversations even further about including coverage in a standard health care plan.
Open Up Communication
Some employees could be hesitant in opening up about their mental health. This is why communication is important. Employers need to promote the expression of someone’s mental health. Rather than simply putting up a sign about mental health in the break room, send out regular emails promoting mental health so your employees know they are safe to talk about how they are feeling. Have virtual or VR meetings to help them feel connected.
Micromanagement Questionnaires
By setting up a questionnaire, your company can learn pain points that need to be addressed. The microengagement questionnaire can not only help gauge remote employee’s mental health but also provide feedback about what your organization has done (or has not done) well in helping transition throughout this last year.
It’s certainly been a learning experience for all, but going forward, knowing how to help is just as important as creating the programs to do so. Learn more and discuss questionnaire options with the microlearning and microengagement experts at Concannon Business Consulting.
