2020 has been a year filled with employees adapting to new work environments. As many companies continue to work from or practice social distancing within the office, employees are facing a constant battle of adjusting to and accepting change. What happens to the body when we experience breaks in our normal routines? Health and well-being can be negatively impacted.
In a March 2020 Letter to the Editor of “Brain, Behavior and Immunity,” author Montemurro reported high levels of stress are affecting employees. Mental health professionals are seeing a significant increase in depression and anxiety. There is a rising concern over an increase in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and suicides. Should organizations be concerned about their employees’ health and well-being? Absolutely.
Why Monitoring Employees’ Health and Well-Being Is Important
With an uptick in COVID-19 cases, workers are worried about the well-being of both themselves and their families. Whether employees are working from home, have recently returned to their workplace, or never left their workplace to begin with, fear and anxiety may have become a part of their everyday life. These stressors, in addition to navigating new workplace rules and regulations to keep employees safe, can quickly become overwhelming. Common symptoms include:
- Increased irritability or outbursts of anger
- Increased alcohol, tobacco, and drug use
- Feeling uncertain, nervous, or anxious
- Feeling tired or overwhelmed
- Lacking motivation or energy
- Having trouble sleeping
- Wanting to be alone often
- Difficulty concentrating
- Excessive worrying or feelings of sadness or despair
- Headaches, stomachaches, or dizziness
It goes without saying that performing normal work duties while experiencing any of these symptoms can lead to a lack of productivity, mistakes that can put employees in physical harm, and a negative impact on employee health and well-being. Organizations must monitor the health and well-being of employees in order to provide needed support and services for those struggling with today’s work environment.
How Riskovery Supports Organizations with Monitoring Employees’ Health and Well-Being
Riskovery offers a number of solutions that can assist with the health and well-being of employees during COVID-19. Each of these solutions is designed to create a stronger and safer working environment for everyone.
Using Wearable Technology to Identify Employee Stress
Riskovery has partnered with wearable technology to not only identify COVID-19 symptoms before they occur, but to also identify employee distress levels. Being able to detect the presence of COVID-19 symptoms prior to onset has been imperative in automating wearable technology to effectively inform large organizations of risks and keep community members safe. Riskovery’s OpenPass solution is a wearable technology that relies on built-in sensors to monitor body temperature, heart rate variability, energy and stress levels, sleep quality, and daily activity. This information enables your organization to monitor and predict COVID-19 symptoms with over 90% accuracy without the need to have employees take a test after every human interaction. These same indicators can be used to identify employee distress.
Creating Effective and Simple Communication Channels for Distressed Employees
For clients utilizing our Travel Risk Management services, used to monitor and respond to incidents while employees travel, Riskovery works collaboratively with organizations to establish a cadence on how frequently to check-in with their employees. Organizations are able to analyze the health and well-being check-in results to detect any anomalies in behavior. When health and well-being check-ins are sent, employees can mark themselves in distress if they need help, creating a direct line of communication to their organization and local emergency services. This adds a level of comfort and security, reducing the amount of stress for both organizations and their employees that ensures emergency response in the event employee well-being is in jeopardy.
Monitoring employee health and well-being is imperative in today’s climate. As employees are adapting to a new normal, organizations should ensure employees are healthy both mentally and physically.
For more information on how Riskovery can help monitor the health and well-being of your employees, please contact us at https://riskoverysolutions.com/contact-us/.
https://uthealthaustin.org/blog/coping-with-stress-while-working-during-covid-19
https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/monitoring-our-mental-health-during-covid-19