Uncertainty breeds anxiety, and we are living in uncertain times. Besides job security and increasing weariness of technology usurping future prospect… the cost of living is increasing.

Our minister in Singapore has recently taken to announce that some jobs lost now will never return. As we are navigating various transitions over the coming months and years, leaders are likely to see employees struggle with anxiety, depression and burnout.

So… what can managers do?

Managers are humans too! Simply by being open to sharing about their own concern can help to alleviate their own stress and those working under them. Managers should share the challenges they face from working at home and this would help them to appear more relatable and authentic.

When you are showing them that vulnerable side. They will be able to be open up and come back to you when they are facing any issues as well.

Build a culture of connection through check-ins. Intentionally checking in with each of your direct reports on a regular basis is more critical than ever. That was important but often underutilized in pre-pandemic days. Now, with so many people working from home, it can be even harder to notice the signs that someone is struggling.

Sometimes it is difficult to know what to say or do… but the best thing you can do is show that you are understanding their situation.

What about the organizational leaders?

Mental health symptoms are just as common in the C-Suite as among individual contributors. In fact, we can argue that they face even more pressures as the company’s direction may decide the survival of the entire organization.

C-suite also wields the greatest influences on how the managers can do their job. These are some ways the C-suite leaders can help:

• Modify policies and practices. To reduce stress on everyone, be as generous and flexible as possible in updating policies and practices in reaction to the pandemic and civil unrest.

• Conduct pulse surveys during the pandemic to understand the primary stressors and needs of staff. This direct employee input will help the management to better understand how to design company policies.

• Conduct training. There is no better time than now to re-shape the organization through training as economy activity pace has come down. Stress management course can be a great addition as well.

As much as we might like to return to the way things were, it won’t be anytime soon. Let’s take this chance to improve how we can make the company’s employee more resilient.