Routine, stress or an overload of work are factors that can provoke negative emotions such as frustration and anxiety in the workplace. That is why human resources professionals must know how to identify them, in order to improve employees’ Whole Health and, by extension, their performance at work. But how should they address this challenge? As an expert in health solutions, we at Cigna would like to tell you how.
First of all, remember that workers’ lives are more complicated than in the past, and they face new concerns that affect their daily lives. In some cases, this can provoke negative emotions, which can affect their overall well-being, which is why it is very important to understand the mechanisms that help them to identify and manage them.
To do this, companies must address health and well-being from a broad perspective. That way it will be easier to understand how and why people react in a particular way and in which situations employees experience negative emotions such as fear or stress, particularly at a time when, according to the study ‘Cigna 360 Well-being Survey’, 72% of Europe’s population suffers from stress, which results in sleep disturbances (50%) and feeling sad (39%).
In light of these data, promoting employees’ overall health and well-being is undoubtedly a good starting point from which to define a strategy to help them manage negative emotions. As an expert in health solutions, we at Cigna want to help you face this challenge by offering you some ideas:
- Identify the specific challenges that each employee faces. The first step in helping employees manage negative emotions is to determine what it is that makes them react as such, so that initiatives can be introduced to limit the impact. To gather this information, internal surveys and questionnaires can be very helpful in achieving this goal.
- Train team managers in emotional intelligence skills. Employers must not lose sight of the role their department leaders have when influencing employees’ well-being. Those in positions of responsibility can help to create an environment of trust with employees through strong communication and the closeness that comes from direct contact. It is also a good idea to offer help through employee assistance programmes which provide psychological evaluation or guidance on personal finances.
- Invest in tools that improve emotional self-regulation. It is interesting to consider implementing tools that help look after employees’ mental health and which make them aware of their emotions and learn how to manage stress or anxiety. In this respect, offering access to Global Telehealth solutions, like the Cigna Wellbeing App™, may be very useful. This is because they facilitate employees’ access to psychological counselling from the best health care professionals, at any time and in any place.
- Extend Whole Health initiatives to the family environment. Concerns associated with employees’ home environment are another aspect that can cause negative emotions, which is why it is important organisations are aware that employees are also parents, children, siblings, etc. and play an important role within their families. Faced with this situation, human resources professionals can take a further step in looking after their team’s Whole Health, by including, for example, their family members in health plans. Giving employees and their loved ones access to quality care makes them feel safer and, as a result, happier.
- Promote teamwork and a good working environment.Encouraging employees to socialise with each other facilitates communication and the sense of well-being, and prevents the working environment from becoming a source of stress and distress. The goal should therefore be to practice social empathy, enabling relationships to form naturally between individuals and teams and creating positive bonds.
- Promote a corporate culture focused on employee happiness. An optimistic working environment helps to strengthen the bond between workers and the organisation, boosting levels of motivation, commitment and learning. This is also, as a result, an excellent weapon to fight negative emotions.
By providing these tools and resources, we at Cigna work every day to improve people’s lives. We therefore help companies to develop health programmes with a holistic approach, for healthier and happier employees. By adopting this global perspective, organisations can become a pillar of support for their workforce.
Would you like to find out all that Cigna can do to help your employees manage their negative emotions and improve their overall well-being? Go to our Whole Health Hub for a unique, personalised experience that is within reach. More information.
