Pandemic Ponders: Interpersonal Relations at Work
Executive Summary
The purpose of this memo is to address the current issues of cultivating strong interpersonal relationships in the workplace during Covid-19. As we all know, the Covid-19 pandemic turned the world silent when we were forced to stay in the confinement of our own homes. This led to a lack of face-to-face interaction usually had at the workplace and minimal time or means to contact team members socially, leading to a downfall of interpersonal relationships. New ways of interpersonal connection needed to be formed as people were feeling as disconnected as ever. Some companies began to see the shift in interpersonal culture and knew they had to reevaluate what matters most: the health and well-being of their employees. In an effort to restart relationships, organizations provided community mental health support along with virtual group activities to stimulate personal conversations outside of work times.
Since employees are at the core of any company, it’s important to keep morale up through empathy, open communication and trust. Managers have a responsibility to cultivate opportunities for team members to get to know each other once again, but in a different setting. Through effective interpersonal practices, people will be positively impacted in their mental health and their relationships.
The Issue
In March of 2020, the world went into an unforeseen lockdown because of a pandemic we all know as Covid-19. Being confined to our own homes left us craving interpersonal connection in our personal lives as well as in our careers. This absence of relationships can cause symptoms such as withdrawal at work, lack of trust, diminished productivity and low motivation (Hickok, 2021).
Seeds of interpersonal connections used to be easily planted at the office, most of the time without even realizing it. Little things like greetings in the elevator and post-meeting chats are now a glimpse of the past. One of the many companies affected by the drastic change in everyday work culture was the Financial Times, one of the world’s leading news organizations (Financial Times, 2021). In a workplace as big and busy as this one, it’s obvious that Financial Times employees have minimal time during the workday to connect with any of their team members casually. As these chats by the watercooler disappeared, so did company morale and the strength of co-worker relationships which led to a disconnect in community.
The Response
As the Financial Times found their footing in the new pandemic lifestyle, they also listened to employee grievances and understood their needs of wanting to re-cultivate interpersonal office culture (Financial Times, 2021). To prove their understanding with action, the Financial Times shifted their focus to employee well-being by:
Mobilizing the internal network of mental health ambassadors to ensure all employees know they have that resource for support.
Partnering extensively with Employee Assistance Providers to not only provide their regular one-on-one counseling but also to provide bespoke webinars for employees on a variety of topics.
Holding a “Keeping Connected” session once every two weeks to virtually catch up and share tips on topics like staying active and podcasts to listen to while working alone.
Hosting a colleague lead weekly, virtual, guided meditation session for all to join (Adams, 2020)
During this period, the Financial Times remembered an enterprise’s true character is expressed by its people and managed for tomorrow’s crises by:
Providing access to the Headspace app for meditation and other features benefitting mental health
Holding workshops on topics like better sleep, in addition to some animal therapy with a virtual tour of an animal sanctuary which employees will be invited to attend with their families. (Adams, 2020)
Hosting Mental Health Awareness Week annually (Via MHA National)
While statistics of the positive changes instilled have yet to be reported, it’s safe to say the employees of the Financial Times have a much healthier career path ahead of them. Even Mental Health America National agrees that the Financial Times is an employer that’s supporting it’s valued people in a positive way (Adams, 2020).
Best Practices
While the Financial Times was implementing their well-being resources, there were a few other notable companies that worked on their own interpersonal relationship practices. EY’s Global Chairman personally launched a recognition program highlighting EY people doing exceptional things to support one another, their communities, or their clients called “EY hero”. Culligan Water started Weekly well-being communications, Morale boosting activities for team members, on-site health coach, virtual wellbeing portal and employee counselling sessions (Adams, 2020).
As scheduled practices are introduced, it’s also important to understand what types of actions employees can personally take to feel a deeper sense of interpersonal connection with others during work. The Harvard Business Review says managers should make time and space for social capital to thrive by lowering the workload on days like Friday, so that co-workers can have time to reflect on personal and career driven highs and lows (Bayme et al., 2021). People are also encouraged to be proactive in generating intentional conversations with others as there is no spontaneous hallway chatter to rely on for social interaction. This effort of reaching out can only be had if the workload permits it.
Forbes along with Time says that an emphasis needs to be put on putting empathy at the forefront (Chin, 2020). What is empathy, you ask? Bren Brown says, “Empathy is not connecting to an experience; it’s connecting to the emotions that connect to the experience” (Brown, 2021). Being empathetic is not about fixing, it’s the brave choice to be with someone in their darkness—not to race to turn on the light so we feel better. Empathy consists of five skills: perspective taking, being nonjudgmental, understanding the other person’s feelings, communicating your understanding, and mindfulness (Brown, 2021). These skills build trust and increase a positive connection between people involved in the experience (Hickok, 2021).
Worst Practices
Some of the worst practices for interpersonal relations come from the opposite of empathy, which is apathy. These practices can include little consideration for personal life events, minimal sensitivity in the amount of workload being received/ given and no extra mental health or interpersonal communication support, and most surprising, lack of understanding for the extra stress caused by the Covid-19 pandemic (Petersen, 2021). This type of apathy can be categorized as an empathic miss, which is when you share something personal and vulnerable and you don’t feel heard, seen, or understood. Bren Brown reveals that it’s a sinking feeling, where you feel exposed and right on the edge of shame (Brown, 2021). Empathetic misses can “sever the heart” which kills the courage that leads to creativity and motivation. In these worst practice environments, there is too much shame and blame with not enough accountability and learning.
Conclusion
Brene Brown says the best solution to an empathic miss is to circle back and try again to get it right, and I believe that the effort of showing empathy to employees should be done with just that (Brown, 2021). While some companies got it right the first time and others still needing to learn more, it’s important to know that it’s ok to try different interpersonal strategies and see which
References
Hickok, H. (2021, March). Why remote work has eroded trust among colleagues. BBC Worklife. http://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210315-why-remote-work-has-eroded-trust-among-colleagues.
Chin, T. (2020, July 31). Council post: How the pandemic has altered the way we think about communications. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2020/07/13/how-the-pandemic-has-altered-the-way-we-think-about-communications/?sh=19b98ba6712d.
Bayme, Larson, & Martin. (2021, March 22). What a year of wfh has done to our relationships at work. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2021/03/what-a-year-of-wfh-has-done-to-our-relationships-at-work.
Adams, T. (2020, May 5). 8 employers supporting employee mental health During covid-19. Mental Health America. https://mhanational.org/blog/8-employers-supporting-employee-mental-health-during-covid-19.
Brown, B. (2021, March 8). Dare to Lead Glossary. Dare To Lead. https://daretolead.brenebrown.com/workbook-art-pics-glossary/.
Petersen, A. H. (2021, July 22). Why workplace empathy won't keep employees happy. Time. https://time.com/6082524/corporate-empathy-trap/.
Financial Times. (2021). About Financial Times employee networks. FT. https://aboutus.ft.com/company/employee-networks.
