Piling On: The Added Stress of the Election and How to Help Employees Cope
During a virtual behavioral health training for managers I conducted earlier this week, I used a polling feature that creates word clouds to display participants’ responses to questions. I asked the group, “Given where we are today, and reflecting on the recent months, what do you think is most concerning to your employees?” The training had been set up to address workforce stress created by the pandemic. But the word cloud was dominated by political references.
While that was not the response I expected, it’s not surprising that this year’s election is creating more emotional distress than usual. “Election stress disorder” may have unique catalysts, but heightened levels of anxiety, fear, anger were already in play due to all of the events of 2020. In some ways, election stress disorder is a “pile on” – and could be a trigger for greater mental health concerns.
In this valuable new post, two Mercer colleagues specializing in employee listening and communication suggest that employers have an opportunity to address and help ease tension generated by the upcoming election and the immediate aftermath, even if, in more normal years, they would not choose to comment on anything related to politics. I will just add three suggestions from my perspective as a behavioral health professional:
- Check in regularly with team members, even if only for a few minutes. While telephone or video is best, an IM is OK, too -- any type of check-in right now is important. The occasional but regular check-in builds trust into the relationship; allows the manager to listen (and observe) whether the employee is struggling; and provides the opportunity to initiate supportive conversation.
- Messaging that acknowledges this year’s difficulties and reinforces that anxiety, stress, anger, and depression are to be expected, will help employees accept that it’s ok to not feel ok and that it’s important to seek help. Political strife is one of many stressors heightening our need for mental health support.
- Dialogue that confronts the reality of the political strife is important. We need to make space for people to express their opinions (in appropriate venues), but we also need to make space within ourselves to listen. It’s important to recognize there will be differences in opinions – even conflict – but also to encourage people to distinguish between what they can and can’t control.
To that end, I hope you can find a few minutes to read this post and think about steps your organization can take to help ease the added stress of the upcoming election. Providing more time off to vote could help as well.
