”At the beginning of 2001, I organized an event dedicated to a new concept in Romania, at that time: emotional intelligence.

I remember talking to several clients, Romanian and foreign, about this concept; but few resonated. It was difficult to connect it to the impact on financial results. Emotional intelligence seemed to be human resources’ blah, blah, an ex-pat client even told me to cut off these fairytales. It wasn’t long before emotional intelligence became fashionable, so fashionable that I came to believe that it was talked about too much, unlike other bits of intelligence. But it’s normal to be like that. After years of glorifying the IQ, people have realized that it is not enough, and even that it can even be harmful if it is not supplemented by other aspects: emotional intelligence, cultural intelligence, social intelligence, for example.


I think we are in a period in which we are witnessing another concern: the well-being of people from organizations. Concepts such as ‘mental health’, ‘well-being’, have begun to be among the concerns of human resources. They are halfway between top management and organization. Feel the pulse, pay attention to changes, trends and try to change policies in organizations, to support the strategy of companies and maintain an adequate level of satisfaction among people. Why? Because this satisfaction can affect productivity and financial results.


Well-being will not be a luxury, as it may seem now. It will be a necessity. We have, in organizations, different generations, with different expectations, values. What Generation X accepts as an indisputable fact – how to relate to a job, to responsibilities, to take on without questioning too much – is seen differently now by the very young generation. The opportunities are different, the world has become a stage where you can change roles without thinking too much, without enduring inadequacies. Policies and procedures, how to treat employees are good to keep up with societal changes.


In addition, technological progress requires us to be flexible, to adapt quickly, to reinvent ourselves several times in our lives, and these are not really a breeze. The stress that accompanies all these changes is increasing. A study cited by Motivosity in ‘Guide for Wellbeing at Work’ and conducted in China, Spain, Italy, Iran, USA, Turkey, Nepal, and Denmark, shows that during the pandemic, the well-being of employees has decreased dramatically in the last year. Anxiety levels increased from 6.33% to 50.9%, depression increased from 14.6% to 48.3%, PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) increased from 7% to 53.8%, and stress from 8.1% to 81.9% .


I don’t think there are magic recipes, especially since we are still in the fog of the pandemic. Of course, we also have parts where we seem to see more clearly, but in the distance, a new fog zone is announced, a wave 4, the uncertainty related to working from home, from the office or from anywhere. In addition, employees will not return to how it was before. If they can work from home, they will, for the most part. If they can work from anywhere, they will.
How can companies ensure well-being?


There are many ways, first of all it is to realize that there is a problem. Then, there is a need to rethink the way we work, manage, collaborate, evaluate, develop, motivate, maybe even health insurance packages. We all want some security, we all need to be with others, from time to time, to know that we are appreciated, to feel ‘part of the group’. But how do we schedule to be at the office one at a time? Some have built applications for these appointments, others are still waiting to decide.


However, the state of uncertainty plays, to another extent, with people’s minds and states.
A 2019 WHO study shows that depression and anxiety have caused declining human productivity, and the cost of this decline, globally, has been $ 1 trillion.


I will end by quoting Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce and investor at Thrive Global:
‘It is time for each of us to ask these questions: What do we really want in this new world? How do we perceive our business, society, and even ourselves? We know that the future does not compare with the past, so let’s ask ourselves what is really important to us and prioritize those things. Together we can do that and only together will we succeed. ‘
And, if you want to read more, I recommend an article by Arianna Huffington, who has been talking about well-being for several years now.”

via: Revista Cariere