The employee experience, workplace wellness, and overall “return-to-work” conversation has centered almost exclusively on workplace design, amenities, services, technology, hybrid working arrangements, and the adherence to safety guidelines.

In essence, corporations are skillfully determining, as they always do, how we can circumvent the colossal changes, both physical and psychological, that we’ve experienced the past 18 months, and go straight back into “business as usual”.

Said another, more tactical, way: How can we power through by making the necessary changes to:

a) get people working as efficiently as possible in a remote, hybrid, or in person setting,

b) do a check-the-box exercise to bandaid the psychological situation through an employee assistance hotline, access to Headspace or Calm, and, if you’re lucky, a mental health platform like Lyra or Spring Health. And lastly, but most importantly,

c) act as if nothing happened!

A key factor, perhaps the key factor, missing in this equation is:

What is the psychological environment we are creating for our employees in a post-pandemic world? And how do we plan to nurture our employee’s well being as they cross yet another threshold of change?

Transitions of any kind are difficult and require an exorbitant amount of emotional energy, presence, and support. Crossing any sort of threshold in life requires slowing down, processing, and reflection. These moments also represent beautiful opportunities for growth, both personal and collective.

Unfortunately, the corporate world is not great at handling transitions, neither at the individual nor organizational levels.

Working mothers, for example, are not only expected, but required, to put themselves aside to suit up, show up and essentially make up for lost time. It is imperative that they earn their way back, prove themselves, and continue to push forward despite the auxiliary demands that are present within their lives. There are very few specialized services and experiences offered to ease their emotional transition back into the workplace.

This same scenario plays our for those within the LGBTQ community, as well as those experiencing grief, loss, depression, anxiety, PTSD, career and/or job change, burnout, overwhelm, and so much more. In fact, this scenario is playing out for all of us as we individually and collectively navigate the complexities of a post-pandemic workplace and world, many of us experiencing deep levels of grief and uncertainty.

However, our modern organizations, which have largely shaped our culture, have been built upon the need for immediacy, predicated on the relentlessness of doing and gain.

We are endlessly working, searching, and in constant pursuit of our way forward.

Within the context of great change there must be a recognition that speed and action are not the goal.

In fact, going too fast or doing too much could be detrimental to the process itself, costing more time and money than planned.

We see the aftermath of this harsh, expedited transition happening now as thousands of workers turnover causing the largest separations rate in history. Not only are employers losing great talent, they are having a difficult time attracting new talent, while simultaneously being faced with disproportionally high rates of burnout contributing to rising healthcare costs.

In this moment of great change, can corporations carve out the resources and time to cultivate an environment of non-doing, making space for things to be as they are?

Just as a psychotherapeutic relationship is symbolic of a vessel – a safe, gentle container holding a steady space for healing to occur – can corporations enable their teams to cultivate environments that allow for a momentary reprieve from the frantic nature of our modern working lives?

The answer must be yes.

And quite paradoxically, environments built on trust, patience, and psychological safety always results in an increase in engagement, satisfaction, and workforce health.

Just as we wouldn’t expect our broken leg to heal in two weeks, we cannot expect the psyche of our employees to be on an expedited journey toward wholeness.

So, where do we go from here?

This is a nuanced, complex conversation and there are no simple answers. There is no blueprint for this time in history – we have never been here.

What we do know is that change of any kind, especially large organizational change, requires a profound level of psychological care and attention including detailed transition plans, individual and team support, emphasis on building community, empathic mentorship, and investing a disproportionate amount on employee learning and development.

We also know that a significant part of what employees need and want is to be recognized beyond their transactional contributions at work. Therefore, focus and resources must also be allocated at the individual employee experience level as they navigate the following changes including, but not limited to:

• Moving
• Death
• Relationship changes
• Job and career change
• Joining the company / onboarding
• Illness (physical and mental) – self, family, or friends
• Assigned or Assumed Gender Change
• Coming out
• Having a child
• Returning to work after maternity / paternity leave
• Marriage
• Resignation, Retirement
• Seasonal / Environment Change
• Mid-life
• Menopause