Mental health and wellbeing has been a continuous talking point for organisations for a number of years, and since being propelled into the spotlight by the pandemic in 2020, it has stayed put - centre stage. In honour of World Mental Health Day, we wanted to unpack how Digital Transformation can impact our health and wellbeing in the workplace, and what organisations can do to best support employees.
Whilst change can be great: offering unparalleled opportunities for efficiency and growth, change can also bring about a set of unique challenges that affect our wellbeing in the workplace.
There are three key parts to this:
Pace of Change and Uncertainty: The relentless speed at which AI and digital transformation occur can lead to feelings of uncertainty and overwhelm.
Human-AI Interaction: Interacting with AI systems can impact our sense of autonomy and competence.
Social Isolation and Collaboration: While technology enables remote work and virtual collaboration, it can also lead to social isolation.
But, what is the solution?
Cultivating resilience
Although there will be employees who are naturally more resilient (as opposed to resistant) to change, you need to think of resilience as a muscle that must be exercised. If you have a workforce that already feels fatigued by smaller changes happening, how do you think that they’ll cope with larger transformations? It’s simple - they won’t.
However, building a culture of resilience actually puts business transformation at its core. Smaller, regular changes that have an element of schedule to them will build confidence internally that change is good - whilst also allowing employees time (and giving them control) to adapt to aforementioned changes, whatever those may be.
That way, when bigger change is on the horizon - particularly Digital Transformation which can be a mighty big chunk to chew - they’ll have resilience techniques nailed and will be less phased by the changes presented to them.
Along with empowering employees at a grassroots level, you must also ensure that your leaders are pioneers for resilience, who can pave the way, lead by example - and also squash any qualms that may arise during larger business changes.
Have balance
Is AI your friend or is AI your foe? What if we told you that you didn’t have to categorise AI into a specific box, and instead, can allow AI to coexist within your organisation?
Leveraging AI’s capabilities should be front of mind for every organisation for many reasons, the most prominent being saving time and giving us control over our work processes as a result. However, striking a balance with AI is that sweet spot that you want to get to.
We don’t have the silver bullet strategy for every organisation, but look at AI as a bespoke addition to improve what your employees are already doing, rather than replacing tasks they enjoy (or even replacing them altogether).
Digital Transformation takes time for a reason - because employees need to adapt and feel like they have control over the new technology that they’re adopting. Having balance with your tech is the secret sauce to a happy workforce.
Foster meaningful connections in a digital world
Although digital platforms that enable us to work more efficiently can be great, they can also create disjointed internal relationships. We are all familiar with communicating via e-mail, Slack, or Teams - but what happened to a meaningful phone call or face-to-face conversation? In ways, technology has become a placebo for connectivity, when in reality it can drive a further wedge between us, particularly in times of stress or business transformation.
It’s crucial that as an organisation you encourage employees to foster meaningful connections, especially if you are living in a very digital work world. This could be in the form of adjusting your working policies (re-introducing office days or compulsory meetings that are in-person) or adapting your culture to make it less digitally-centric.
This can be difficult to do - and of course, you’ll be met with resistance. We were ‘spoiled’ in some ways during the global pandemic. Working parents had the opportunity to spend more time with their family, commute times were reduced (or scrapped altogether) and in some cases, individuals were able to save money as a result. However, it’s important to note that we lived in a somewhat dystopian fantasy world, and pandemic life does not equal real life.
Three years on, we can recognise the beauty of a digital world but also the loneliness that came with having no real human interaction. Encouraging real, in-person connections can help with employee well-being as well as give employees the ability to navigate big business changes, or, even changes within their own lives.
