Tragic events can take an immense toll on workers’ mental health and evoke a mix of emotions including fear, anger, stress, and grief. In today’s environment, many of us may find it difficult to navigate  current events, like war, natural disasters, and economic uncertainty – while maintaining our daily lives at work and at home. In a recent webinar, leaders from Headspace and One Mind at Work discussed these challenges and various strategies that leaders and organizations can consider when supporting employees through these tough times. 

Here are six suggestions they offered for leaders to give their employees the psychological safety and space necessary to process troubling world events while in the workplace.

1. Commit to building a foundational  organizational culture that prioritizes mental health. 

The world, both inside and outside of work, is often a challenging place. A recent Headspace survey found that 97% of employees say that global events, such as war and the economy, impact their mental health at work. Almost half of employees say they feel dread at work on a weekly basis. 

“Building psychological safety is a process that really does require collective commitment across an organization,” said Headspace Chief Operating Officer and Chief People Officer Karan Singh. “We all want our employees to feel like they can show up as their whole selves, that they can bring their mental and emotional struggles in and also feel a sense of acceptance and belonging.” 

The effort of building this kind of organization starts long before a crisis hits. “You don’t repair the roof when it’s pouring,” One Mind at Work President-CEO Dr. Kathleen Pike said. “… This work happens not during the storm but in quieter times.” 

Leaders should consider how they can proactively build support and maintain resources so that when tough times happen, organizations are ready to show up for their teams. 

2. Enable Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) to help build community.

Employee Resource Groups can be one key element in an organizational culture that recognizes the importance of mental health. ERGs — which can be built to support people of color, women, LGBTQ people, parenting, caregiving, people with disabilities, and other communities — create support structures within an organization. Within these structures, employees can find community, which is especially helpful in hybrid or remote workplaces when daily, in-person interactions with colleagues is less common. ERGs can also play an important role in creating impact for an organization – by providing strategic counsel on product and policy development and advising on external responses, for example.

“We've really invested in (ERGs) to create safe spaces for our employees to listen, to gather, to collect input from each other, and from our employees at large to provide strategic insights and to help us understand how work that we're doing might directly impact specific populations differently,” Karan said. 

 3. Encourage your organization’s leaders to model positive mental health habits.

Organizational leaders should practice positive mental health behavior themselves, taking time out to make sure they’re rested both physically and emotionally to tackle their responsibilities. 

For example, Kathleen said she starts her day by meditating and regularly biking - both outdoors and on a stationary bike when weather doesn’t cooperate. Karan also likes to get outdoors when he can. “My regular ritual is spending time offline in nature under the beautiful Redwood trees we have out here in Northern California,” Karan said. “That’s my reset button.”

Employees should be encouraged to find their own reset button — whether that’s taking time out for meditation, for a walk, or regular breaks — even during work hours. 

4. Create connections between employees whether they’re in-person, hybrid, or remote. 

Bonds between co-workers can reduce stress in challenging environments. While it’s certainly easier to create those bonds when employees are together in person on a regular basis, organizations can also  build virtual connections by taking advantage of other technology already in place. Through Slack channels discussing common interests, or weekly updates from teams with pictures sharing how they spent their weekends, co-workers can find commonalities around which to bond.

Kathleen points out, for example, that bonds can be created on Zoom meetings by having every team member on the call share a song that describes how they’re feeling that day. Organizations can also build virtual connections by taking advantage of other technology already in place. Creating even small moments of personal connection before diving into business topics can help build a sense of community.

5. Emphasize that mental health is just as important as physical health. 

It’s likely that many employees know how to navigate a health issue at work. They know how to find a doctor, how to use their insurance to get coverage, and how to request time off. Yet, that may not be the case when it comes to mental health issues. Organizations can help support employee well-being by ensuring that pathways to treating mental health are just as clear as for physical health. 

“It's no different than saying…I have a sprained ankle, I need some help with that,” Kathleen said. 

Regularly communicate to your employees about the benefits they have available to them when it comes to mental health, and be sure that they know that they can feel comfortable taking the time to care for their mental well-being, just as they would with a physical ailment.

6. Avoid overreaching. 

Ultimately, it’s important to remember that leaders don’t need to have all of the solutions when their employees are struggling with world events. Simply acknowledging that something like, for example, the current conflict in the Middle East, may be impacting your employees’ mental health can be a positive first step. 

“There's a big risk for leaders to be seduced into thinking that we have to have all the answers,” Kathleen said. “What I would say is the leaders that are doing the best within our community are the leaders that have committed to learning.” 

Ensuring that employees know that leaders are also sensitive to issues happening outside of the workplace helps create a greater understanding between individuals and opportunities to care for mental health.

For a deeper dive into advice for managing an organization in these challenging times, listen to the complete webinar here.