- The coronavirus crisis has disrupted the personal and professional lives of employees.
- Some are reluctant to return to the office, have distanced themselves from the company, or have a desire for change.
Impossible to pretend that nothing had happened and resume office life as before confinement. The coronavirus crisis has disrupted the personal and professional lives of employees. And the consequences are already being felt. According tobarometer * on the psychological and physical health of employees in the quality of life consulting firm Human footprint, 42% of employees were in psychological distress a few weeks after deconfinement. “The coronavirus crisis was a shock for employees who felt vulnerable physically and psychologically. They will be permanently marked, ”comments Christophe Nguyen, occupational psychologist and co-founder of Empreinte humaine.
“Some of our employees have been sick or have had a loved one affected by the coronavirus. They were very affected, ”explains Delphine Chaffaut, HRD of Sadec-Akleys. And each category of employees had to face specific problems. "Those who continued to work on site (60% of our workforce) were worried about taking risks," says Caroline Arquié, HR Director SGS France. Teleworkers were subjected to another stress, as described by Delphine Chaffaut: “In 48 hours, we put 400 employees into remote work, who left with their computers under their arms without really having time to to prepare. However, our company did not have a strong telework culture. It was quite difficult for some of them, confined to small apartments or with children. The reconciliation of professional and personal life was not easy ”. Those who have been placed on partial unemployment have felt discomfort, as Christophe Nguyen explains: “They have been weakened, both financially and professionally. They felt a sense of exclusion and wondered about the sustainability of their position ”.
Employees who do not want to come back to work on site
Concerns that are still generating physiological disorders, because according to the Human Footprint barometer, 35% of employees report having sleep problems, 28% musculoskeletal disorders and 22% headaches. And managers are not spared: "We never needed them as much as during this crisis," said Benoit Serre. An opinion shared by Caroline Arquié: “Our managers have redoubled their efforts to maintain the link with their employees in telework. But they are exhausted, ”she says.
A fatigue that companies will have to take into account, at the very time when they want to get back into battle order to compensate for losses during the containment period. To recreate a dynamic, they are trying to bring their teams back to the site. “But it is clear that they have trouble convincing. Because some employees find it difficult to organize, school has often resumed only part-time despite the massive return to class this week. And others doubt the interest of returning if they cannot work with absent colleagues, ”observes Benoît Serre, vice-president of the National Association of HRDs. "The fear of exposure to the virus is also a reason for non-return, despite the fact that we have worked a lot with employee representative bodies to design a deconfinement plan", also notes Delphine Chaffaut. But if some do not dream of finding the office cafeteria "it is also that they are used to teleworking, because they save on transport time and in terms of well-being," says Caroline Arquié. This lack of desire to return to the office can also hide deeper reasons, according to Christophe Nguyen, “Some employees who had difficulties with their manager or their colleagues, or who were not comfortable in their post before confinement, felt protected by telework. "
Out of sight out of mind ?
And if managers dreamed of being able to unite their teams around them quickly, they realize that it will not be easy. Especially since confinement has sometimes undermined the unity of a service or the spirit of belonging to the company: “The collective spirit fell apart during confinement. Many employees have felt isolated or feel that their difficulties have not been sufficiently taken into account by their employer. We also saw a feeling of unfairness arise between the blue-collar workers on the front who were taking risks and the white-collar workers at home by teleworking. This could have generated a form of disengagement on their part from the former, ”explains Christophe Nguyen. "In structures where the corporate culture was not very strong, some have moved away and perceive their work even more as a necessary evil", adds Benoît Serre. Working remotely has also generated tensions between employees, due to the more complicated exchanges in writing, a form of dehumanization of relationships and the absence of direct exchanges to defuse misunderstandings. In addition, confinement gave everyone plenty of time to question the meaning of their work and their inclinations to change.
New requirements have also arisen: "Many of our employees now want to telecommute one day a week," says Delphine Chaffaut. A stronger demand which Caroline Arquié is also confronted with: "But we already know that beyond two days of teleworking per week, it becomes complicated to maintain a collective bond and even productivity," he explains. she. "Many companies are not organized to manage telework 100% over the long term", also insists Benoît Serre. This suggests conflicts between employers and employees who would like to completely change the way of working.
Rethinking management
The economic turmoil that many companies are going through complicates the internal situation even more: “In companies in difficulty, employees are afraid of the social plan and are worried about the decisions that will be taken at the start of the school year. They experience this uncertainty very badly, which can demotivate them, ”notes Benoît Serre. “The best answer to these fears is transparency. It is necessary to communicate to the employees the impact of the crisis for the company and explain to them the action plan to get out of the difficulties. By involving them, because the situation will be less anxiety-provoking if the employees feel they are actors in the recovery plan. The worst thing is to add social tension to economic tension, "says Benoît Serre.
Managers will have their work cut out for them in the coming months: “They will have to give new meaning to work, simplify organization, reduce the number of meetings and move from a management model based on control to another based on trust ”, says Benoît Serre. "This crisis forces us to rethink the posture of. From now on the team leader will have to be more attentive and give more autonomy to his collaborators ", adds Delphine Chaffaut," And because of the lack of economic visibility, it is necessary to give short objectives to the employees so that they have a feeling of control over their activity, ”adds Christophe Nguyen.
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* Barometer "Impact of the health crisis on the health of employees" OpinionWay for Human Footprint, carried out online from May 20 to 29 with a sample of 2,000 representative employees and constituted according to the quota method.
- Deconfinement
- Employment
- Coronavirus
- Job
- Business
- Employees
- Economy