The necessity of a collective behavioural approach during these current times.
Edward Perier • 18 July 2020
On a cusp of a possible second wave of the Covid-19 Pandemic, this article outlines the necessity of adopting a behavioural approach to our daily lives, during these unprecedented times.
Covid-19 has changed our way of life forever! A statement that many of us have probably either made or heard during these past few months. Little did we know that after the regular New Year’s Eve celebrations and waving goodbye to 2019, the coming year of 2020 would, during its first-half claim over half a million fatalities across the globe, as a result of a transmissible virus. A reality that we now have come to terms with and that it is highly likely we will see many more lives being affected not just for the many years, but generations to come.
Returning to the workplace or the opening of shops and restaurants post lockdown does not mean the end of the pandemic- far from it- but it does give us a window of opportunity to start rebuilding our lives to fit in with this new format.
Every natural disaster that has ever taken place has always been supported by one or more universal components, all conspiring to allow for this catastrophe – no matter its magnitude – to run its course, regardless of its damaging consequences and loss of human lives. This pandemic is no different.
Humanity has always managed to survive such events, by fast adapting to the new coordinates. This also remains the same, with the exception perhaps, that this time we are faced with microbiological warfare, where joining forces to defeat the oppressor (in this case the virus) requires the use of a behavioural approach more than ever before.
Unlike other disasters that have had a significant impact on human life and that required the use of physical controls -as the main response- to reduce the risk of harm, this pandemic requires psychological tactics and changes of behaviour in order to tackle the source of harm. We should indeed make use of personal protective equipment. However, these physical controls on their own will largely be insufficient to succeed and will undoubtedly fail to deliver the desired outcome.
The realisation that we have transited into a way of life that requires a new operating mode is key to our preparedness, for us to take the necessary measures to initiate our adaptation to our new environment. We are simply going to need to learn to live our lives differently, efficiently and constructively, if we wish to survive and evolve.
The coronavirus pandemic did not happen as a result of one but many contributing factors, some of which are still unknown to the world. What we do know, is that it is here to stay. To some, the idea of fighting is to declare a physical war on a hidden enemy, whilst it would be far more beneficial and even crucial to our success, that we instead adopt behavioural strategies to support our physical controls, based on what we have learned.
The big question remains. How do we adapt to our new living space and environment post lockdown and what kind of person we chose to be?
We know that Covid-19 does not discriminate between social or political status, we also know that it is highly contagious. What we don’t know is just how big an impact Covid-19 has on human physiology and the extent of the various susceptibilities associated with this infectious disease such as gender, blood type as well as what characterises an asymptomatic carrier.
Prevention is better than cure and the most effective way to fight a virus remains not to catch one in the first place. Being able to learn to live with Covid-19 as part of our environment is vital, as an antidote is not guaranteed just yet.
For better or worse and in many ways similar to a computer system, this pandemic has paved the way for our world to upgrade its operating platforms. As inhabitants, our bodies are required to adapt to our newly formatted planet, educating ourselves and making good use of what we have learned thus far.
We will also need to redefine our strengths and weaknesses, how are we treated and how we treat others, our core values and how do we feel about them. Whilst being kind and not too harsh on ourselves, we will need to question our intentions and motives to build a better version of ourselves, one that would fit in harmony with the zone we wish to thrive in.
We are being presented with three zones that we need to consider as our starting position, for us to move forward and onto a better place.
The Fear Zone – Where we are driven by negative emotions and the need to excessively stock up on food and groceries to survive, medications that we do not need. Where we tend to spread fear and anger amongst people, pointing the finger of blame instead of owning up to our responsibilities.
The Learning Zone – Where we have developed a hunger of knowledge and starting to give up on things we cannot or no longer control, where we can segregate an emotional response from a rational one. A place in our lives where we become aware of our situations and begin to think about how to react to it, where we stop compulsively feeding on what hurts our body and mind from food and news. In this zone, we learn to evaluate information before spreading something false and finally recognising that we are all trying our upmost in the way we know best.
The Growth Zone – This is the zone that we all aim to land in. A place in our lives where we look to others and think about how we can best help them, making our skills and talents available to those that need them the most. Empower and Energise. In this zone we live in the present and focus on how to build our future, we develop empathy towards ourselves as well as others, we thank and appreciate others for their contributions. We stay longer in an emotional state of contentment and spread hope, practicing quietude, patience and creativity, whilst consistently and at all times looking for ways to adapt to new changes.
We all have the responsibility to evaluate our belief system and our intentions, to determine what we wish to achieve in this day and age. There is no harm in finding ourselves within any of the three zones above, as long as we have accepted to take ownership of our actions and consequences, embracing the changes that we are facing as well as understanding that some of these are paramount for us to progress onto the next stage.
My hope for this post to be read with an open heart and mind, acknowledging that whilst perception might differ from one reader to another, the fact that you have taken the time to read it means that you have come to the realisation that the time for a change is already here and that time is now.
To celebrate anti bullying week added to all the media surrounding mental health at work. I felt very compelled to publish this article, which I hope you will find somehow informative. Bullying at work is the driving factor and the main contributor that fuels the recent increase of poor mental health in the workplace. Did you know that according to the NHS Trust and other mental health charities, 5 in 10 people have witnessed bullying in the workplace and that 47% of mental health issues directly relate to bullying at work? Although, bullying is not always obvious, there is a sinister and dark underlining message to this occurrence. The sinister message is one which suggests that it is OK to have a culture in our work environment that allows bullying. The dark message is the one that suggests that you will be made to look unprofessional and rather silly if you happen to talk about or report it. People committing these acts of bullying often benefit from being highly credited and awarded for work that they never completed. Like scavengers, they feed from someone else's hard-earned work and through their devious bullying methods, they have managed to retrieve it and made it their own. Just so they can unnecessarily and not to mention inappropriately, exercise their power over them. Coincidentally, People behind these bullying acts often take good credit for works that they have neither produced nor understood the technical value of what it represents. Surprisingly, they are in most cases awarded for driving the business improvement. This is false analysis. Bullying is simply counter-productive, shatters lives and it has no place in today's society. It just has to stop! Company Directors and Senior Managers should be held accountable for the implementation of robust directives as well as delivering health and well being strategies that define the organisation position, when dealing with mental health in general and bullying in particular. They should also introduce strict methods by which, bullying in the work environment is identified and categorically eradicated, with the same robustness those budget cutbacks are made, when those financial deficit reports are being circulated. Preventing bullying at work can also be exercised by other means, such as actively encouraging transparency within departmental and corporate communications, thus allowing all employees to express their creativeness and openness when finding workable solutions for the benefit of all. Engage freely with customers and colleagues, when delivering the service they were hired to deliver, with no ambiguities or misunderstandings. This is surely far more productive than exercising a vigorous micromanagement regime, that undermines employee’s confidence. Bullying can also occur when the people behind this degrading act, are constantly casting the blame and voicing their non constructive criticism for the work others have produced, when themselves have less or no knowledge in the field. Work bullies, or so they called, feel the need to treat other employees in such a villainous way, because it gives them the sense of satisfaction and reassurance that their work status allows them to behave in such a way and subconsciously, show gratitude to those that cover up for them, their accomplice. Bullying has to be supported and be fuelled by other individuals behind the scene for it to continue and it is more often carried out by one or more people. Bullying at work is not and never will be considered as an isolated incident, it is deeply rooted in the organisation cultural make up and only exists for the simple reason that it is allowed to happen. With insufficient or no efforts being made by Senior managers and Directors to stop it from happening. According to the NHS trust and other charities supporting mental health £99bn per year this is the exorbitant amount spent to address mental health at work. This amount only represent the top of the iceberg and it is bound to increase exponentially over the years to come, for reasons of recklessness and lack of awareness surrounding the effect of bullying and the repercussions of this human behaviour, often misinterpreted by the need to drive the business forward. To this, I say there are much better ways to improve business operations with better planning, clear communication and accurate projections. The good news is that mental health at work can be addressed and be rectified. The not so good news, we wont be able to to see the benefits of this in the next few days. This is journey to recovery and a long healing process, one that requires much more trust and healthy relationship amongst employees, from the top all the way down the organisational chart. This is essentially the duty of Senior Managers and Directors to constantly look for better ways to improve and promote a safe and healthy behaviour within their organisations, promptly initiate a radical and unequivocal change of cultural direction and mindset, make lessons out of those who bully others. Introduce initiatives and workshops that support this need to improve healthy behaviour at work. This will undoubtedly demonstrate a great desire for the company to change for the better and send out a loud and clear message, which spells out transparency at work and adequate performance management to work in a healthy work environment, not in an environment that undermines and negatively impact employees' moral, from fear of being intimidated and discouraged. The message of change will undoubtedly echo the conscious decision made by the senior team, that the organisation is serious about transformation and albeit, employees' Health & Wellbeing programmes do not generate a revenue in a same way Operations or Commercial Services do, it does however show that the Employer and duty holders are keen to invest in all their employees and not just the chosen ones. The workforce that one time or another decided to apply for a job vacancy, to serve its company with pride and have hoped that it will succeed at uncovering its true potential through the company core values, increase productivity and enjoy a friendly climate where they can earn their living. Only to be reduced to a group of individual that have to find the time and confidence to go on onto searching for another work opportunity, or go on a long term sick for those that are less fortunate. This article was written in the spirit of Health and Wellbeing at work and raise awareness on the consequences of Bullying. What I aimed to achieve whilst writing it, is that it will awake those who are committing these act of bullying, make them realise the negative impact the consequences of their actions have led to and the harm and pain they have caused. Tell them to Stop their bullying methods and seek some mental health help with your degrading habits. Most importantly, I wanted to reassure those that have been constantly bullied at works and kept silence from fear or from being in denial that they have been submitted to this type of treatment, from fear to carry an etiquette and be known as that person they do not want to relate to. You need to speak up and stand up to people that are causing this bullying, as you remember the day you took on your role to work for your company, this was not exactly part of the deal or was certainly not what you have signed for.