One aspect of supervising employees is creating an environment for individuals to have the opportunity to thrive. While this can be challenging, the current COVID-19 pandemic makes it even more so, whether your team is reporting to campus or working remotely.
While it is always crucial to support your employee’s mental health, it is even more important during this time. Human Resources strongly encourages you to ensure you are creating opportunities to check-in with your employees, both through departmental and one-on-one meetings.
Further, check out these tips that we hope you will find useful during the current situation.
Given the unparalleled landscape of the current situation, you may be fraught with personal stresses to include family obligations, work responsibilities, and supporting the staff you supervise. It is paramount that you give yourself some leeway. Remember to actively move and eat well. Set boundaries and be sure to clearly convey your expectations to your team. Establish a clear schedule of when you will be “on the clock” and off and share this with those you work with and lead. Strive to not add any undue stress by being a bit kinder to yourself and to your employees. Remember, you also have access to the many well-being resources available at UNM.
A good time to do a mental wellness check-in is during a regular one-on-one. If you need to build these into your team’s calendar, now is the time. Just be sure to ask your employees at what intervals they are comfortable in meeting on an individual basis. While these check-in discussions are generally focused on work tasks, they will give you an opportunity to understand any other barriers to your employees’ well-being such as challenges in their personal lives or the impact of remote work. It may not be the norm to talk to your team members on a personal level but be genuine in your concern for their well-being and be prepared to provide resources to assist your employees.
Even though it is difficult to see the nuances of an employee’s struggles on a Zoom call, if you listen closely to your team, you may pick up on the little differences versus how they usually behave. Has someone become unusually quiet during team meetings, a bit edgy when asked to perform a task or are they uncharacteristically missing deadlines? Your most effective tool is to take the time to ask ‘How are you doing? I’ve noticed that you....’ This is a caring and direct way to open up a conversation. If you are hesitant to confront an employee with this type of conversation, remember to seek assistance from CARS and other mental health resources to get their perspective and feedback.
UNM has numerous mental health resources to help and support managers as well as their teams with personal mental health and well-being. We strongly encourage you and your employees to review and access these services to promote a culture of well-being. Many of UNM’s mental health resources are available to faculty, staff, and students, but we have highlighted a few below that focus on faculty and staff.
Finally, keep in mind your employees may be dealing with external issues that could have an effect on their mental health. These could include personal health concerns, substance abuse, domestic abuse, monetary stressors, caregiver responsibilities, or COVID bereavement. Just remember you can be a compassionate listener and offer resources where you can. Above all, if you realize that someone is struggling with mental health issues, you do not have to resolve these matters - support can be as simple as providing resources if they do not know where or how to ask for help.
Other tools and literature to help you support you and your employees:
If you have questions or would like to talk about ways to better connect with your employees, you may reach out to your HR Consultant by sending an email to clientsv@unm.edu.
