Cambridge Chamber of Commerce

It’s not easy to operate or manage a business, even during the best of times.

 

But add in a worldwide pandemic, and the stresses many employers and employees face quickly become magnified.

 

“I have found over the past two years the one thing that is negatively impacting leaders is the societal expectations that they have all the answers,” says Lynn Charlton, proprietor of Lynn Charlton Business Solutions in Kitchener, noting COVID-19 did not come with a ‘playbook’ for businesses. “There is no historical data available that is comparable to our current circumstances.”

 

Lynn, along with Jim Moss, Executive Director of YMCA Workwell, will provide expert insight at our virtual event May 3 entitled A Difficult Conversation. Let’s #GetReal About Mental Health regarding the stresses employers and employees are now facing in the workplace.

 

“I think during the pandemic we’ve become a little shortsighted about the human experience,” says Lynn, noting that many employers are also employees themselves. “We forget about that part and that they are going through this just like everybody else. Everyone has been negatively impacted in circumstances unique to them, regardless of how we may present ourselves at work.”

 

When it comes to ‘big’ stressors for employers, Lynn says many are faced with turnaround pressure trying to translate the latest directives from a medical perspective and apply them to an employment perspective, explaining the Employment Standards Act has always been a very reactive piece of legislation.

 

“Employers are getting minimum support from the Employment Standards Act on how to interpret this information because we can’t keep up,” she says. “No one is letting anybody down and I think the expectation may be out of line of how quickly these things can be determined.”

 

Another stressor for employers is looking at the larger picture overall of how businesses must quickly learn to adapt.

 

“The pandemic has completely stressed our old norms and redefined expectations from both the leadership side to the employee side,” says Lynn. “The resiliency of our leadership has been dramatically challenged over the past two years and resiliency is not an infinite resource.”

 

She says having empathy in the workplace is key, especially now.

 

“It is important for both leaders and employers that empathy needs to be a two-way street,” says Lynn. “As much as we as leaders need to be empathic, our teams also during times like this need to be empathic towards their leaders.”

 

Jim, who will share the spotlight with her at the webinar, agrees and says employers must be able to read the signs when it comes dealing with their employees’ mental health.

 

“Mental health issues have a tendency to first show up in our behaviours and appearance,” he says. “Leaders with higher emotional intelligence often pick up on these types of signs more quickly as they are both consciously and subconsciously paying attention and prioritizing this kind of data all the time.”

 

To help the situation, he recommends employers be as adaptable and flexible whenever they can.

 

“When you can’t be flexible any further, be honest and upfront with people so they can make the best decisions for themselves,” says Jim. “Replace the golden rule with the platinum rule; treat your employees like they want to be treated not how you want to be treated. If people need to change jobs, talk about it early and make it work as best you can.”

 

At the webinar, he hopes to refer to specific data to give participants an even better understanding of surrounding some of these issues.

 

“Ideally, we hope that people will see themselves in the data that we share,” says Jim. “It will help them understand some of the ways that they might be feeling are the same as some others in the community while also realizing that many others feel similar, but for very different reasons.”

 

Lynn says she hopes participants will come away being able to identify some of the ‘red flags’ surrounding burn out in successful and productive leaders.

 

“We all have stress and it’s OK to have stress,” she says. “But it’s about how do we manage that work stress without negatively impacting our team and the people relying on us to be that ‘solid’ person in trying times.”

 

 

'A Difficult Conversation. Let’s #GetReal About Mental Health' takes place virtually Tuesday, May 3 from 11 a.m. to noon. Sign up at: https://bit.ly/3MjQcwm

 

add a comment
Subscribe to this Blog Like on Facebook Tweet this! Share on LinkedIn

Contributors

Blog Contributor Portrait
Brian Rodnick
190
March 17, 2024
show Brian 's posts
Blog Contributor Portrait
Greg Durocher
41
July 28, 2023
show Greg's posts
Blog Contributor Portrait
Canadian Chamber of Commerce
24
January 29, 2021
show Canadian Chamber's posts
Blog Contributor Portrait
Cambridge Chamber
2
March 27, 2020
show Cambridge 's posts

Latest Posts

Show All Recent Posts

Archive

Tags

Everything Manufacturing Cambridge Events Spectrum New Members Taxes Region of Waterloo The Chamber Property Taxes Government Waste Cambridge Chamber of Commerce Networking Success Di Pietro Ontario Chamber of Commerce Greg Durocher Scott Bridger Food Blog Canada Ontario Cambridge Memorial Hospital Business After Hours Discounts Member Benefits Affinity Program Web Development Visa, MasterCard, Debit Big Bold Ideas Politics Elections Municipal Provincial NDP Liberals PC Vote Majority Christmas Homeless Leadership Oil Sands Environment Rail Pipelines Keystone Canadian Oil Canadian Chamber of Commerce Small Business Next Generation Cyber Security Millennials Energy Trump Washington Polls US Congress Bresiteers Trade NAFTA Europe Economy Growth Export Minimum Wage 15 dollars Bill 148 Cost Burdens Loss of Jobs Investing Finance Canada Capital Gains Exemption Tax Proposal MIddle Class Member of Parliment Unfair Changes Small Business Tax Fairness COVID-19 Mental Health Self-isolation Social Distancing Ways to Wellbeing Education Conestoga College Online Training Business Owners Personal Growth Communicate Young Professionals Workplace Communication Stress Emotionally and Physically Animals Pets Lockdown CEWS Employee Relief Employee Benefit Cambridge 50th Anniversary Celebrating Cambridge ToBigToIgnore Small Business Week Support Local Buy Local Business Support Waterloo Kitchener YouGottaShopHereWR Responsibility Culture Workplace Antiracist Inclusion Diversity Racism Federal Election Services Autonmy Professional Salary Wages CERB Workers Jobs Guidelines Health and Safety Etiquette Fun Inperson Members Golf Tournament GolfClassic Business Business Trends Home and Garden Garden Pools Home Improvements Backyarding Renos Summer Airlines Business Travel Bad Reviews Reviews Consumers Competition Bureau Dining Out Expert Advice Outdoors Economicrecovery BBQ Vaccines Community vaccinations Conferences Virtual Visitors Sportsandrecreation Spinoff Screening Kits Tourism Trends Productivity Engagement Remote working EmploymentStandardsAct Employees Employers Policies Employment Contracts Legal Public Health Virtual Ceremonies SMEs Health Canada Prevention Rapid Screening Health Entrepreneurs Building social networks Storytelling Video The She-Covery Project Child Care Workplaces Contact Tracing Time Management Pre-Budget Modernization Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS) Budget Ontario’s Action Plan: Protect, Support, Recover Federal Government Hotels and Restaurants Alcohol Tax Freezethealcoholtax Canadian Destinations Travel Grow your business Sales and Marketing Digital Restructure Financing Structural Regulatory Alignment Technological Hardware Digital Modernization RAP (Recovery Activiation Program) Support business strong economy Shop Cambridge Shop Local #CanadaUnited Domestic Abuse Family Funerals Weddings Counselling Anxiety Pandemic Getting Back to Work UV disinfection systems Disinfection Systems