After widespread vaccinations, many offices across the globe have started the slow transition to a full-time or hybrid (half at work, half at home) style of work. However, with newer variants like Delta and Omicron, many people feel anxious about returning to offices and experience ‘back to office’ jitters.
While most offices have strategies to make employees feel safe, there is still an unhealthy amount of fear about overall health. Unfortunately, many people faced unsettling mental health conditions due to isolation during the pandemic, which has exacerbated panic attacks, anxieties, and outright fear of people who sneeze or cough in public.
Many companies have tried to provide counseling for employees (either online or in-person), and while this has helped, there hasn’t been a remarkable change in the feelings of uncertainty. However, with offices returning to full-time on-site work, there will be resistance, anxiety, and overall concerns about safety.
Let us see how you can overcome ‘back to office’ jitters and slowly get reacquainted with life before the pandemic.
Have Soothing Tools Handy:
If you have faced panic attacks, unknown anxieties, flashbacks, scares, and other fears about returning to work full-time, it is helpful to have some soothing tools handy. Many people have never faced issues like these earlier and do not have adequate coping mechanisms that can help them overcome these conditions.
Simple breathing exercises, counting backward from 20 to 1 and out of order, can help soothe panic attacks and anxieties. These self-soothing tools allow you to control your response to an emotional or mental uncertainty while at work. Several people have started shutting their eyes for a few minutes at their work desk and meditating for 5 minutes to calm themselves and continue working.
Get All The Information:
Many employees left the country before or during the pandemic and returned to their home countries. Others changed jobs during the pandemic and worked from home and now have to face a more significant shift of moving to a new country. If this is the case, you may need additional advice on immigration. Getting the correct information and having all the documentation ready in advance will help curb your anxieties, reduce the fear of the unknown, and help you mitigate the risks involved in shifting to a new country.
Experts like Immigration Lawyers Total Law can aid in a smooth transition while also helping to set up insurance, medical aid, work documentation, family visas, education documentation support for kids, and more. Having all the information and paperwork done in advance can help reduce the back-to-office jitters and ensure that you ease into your work environment in peace.
Accept Change:
Accepting change is a concept everyone knows but is challenging to follow. Managers need to understand that while employees may be the same, their attitudes and outlooks towards life and work balance may have changed. Many employees realized that they could spend quality time with their families and loved ones over the past two years. This realization has led to a fundamental change in their values and overall efficiency.
Many people flourished while working from home, got promotions, moved to new countries, reconnected with loved ones, and got into new relationships. These personal milestones that might have been on hold for many years were finally achieved, which means that employees probably want a more balanced work and life system.
Managers need to understand that a one-size-fits-all policy might not work any longer. They need to have better feedback and grievance redressal systems to help employees achieve a symbiosis. Workers might also need flexibility and guidance to integrate into the workspace as they slowly return to the office. An open and transparent communication loop with regular mental and physical health updates could benefit the workforce while providing a safe space to overcome back-to-office jitters.
Communication:
Employees should communicate with managers, coworkers, and others at work. Doing this does not only mean grievance redressals and closed-door meetings with human resources personnel and counselors. It could also mean politely asking someone to wear a mask or maintain a safe distance during meetings.
Recognizing these limitations and taking an active part in working together will help you assimilate better while you resume work in the office again. It is essential to identify which instances trigger unhealthy emotions and address these in the calmest and most collected manner possible to make the transition smooth.
After nearly two years of social isolation and home confinement, recognizing the losses people have faced and actively working to alleviate physical and mental health risks will eventually help employees overcome ‘back to office’ jitters and reconnect with coworkers in a considerate and safe way.
