Ep. 7: Nurturing employee well-being during COVID-19

Laurie Mitchell is a national thought leader on well-being and health management. She discusses how Unum’s HR organization is helping to foster employee well-being during the coronavirus pandemic. We discuss resources organizations can tap into to support their workforce and how leadership can communicate in humanizing ways.

• The foundation for emotional and physical resilience is self-care. Be intentional and deliberate around building your own wellness: from your diet and regular meals, to physical activity and sleep. [03:38]
• Don’t underestimate the importance of social support. Employees will appreciate hearing from leaders in personal and humanizing ways — explore informal gatherings as well as company updates. [06:00]
• Businesses with smaller HR functions have access to important resources: Start with your medical plan — what resources can you tap into there? An employee assistance program (EAP) can also provide resources for mental health or emotional support. Finally, organizations can look to community resources through their state’s 211 program. [12:10]
• For all your communications, aim to use a designated HR point of contact. This ensures that all employees get consistent information. [14:02]