The headlines say it all ‘The Great Resignation’. It has become a global signpost to a crisis growing in workplaces which is no longer anecdotal, it’s been captured in data time and again.
The latest research – the 2021 Cigna 360 Wellbeing Survey – was an eye opener – or should have been – for CEOs and boardrooms in the UAE, with the employees in the Emirates more stressed than in many other places in the world.
Add to that data in the research that shows that more than half of workers in the UAE want to quit their job. Don’t believe ‘The Great Resignation’ is real? The science, the evidence, would argue against you.
Arabian Business pulls up a chair with Jerome Droesch, CEO – Cigna MEA and SEA – to get his view of the compelling research.
So the headline read ‘UAE employees among the most stressed in the world’ based on the findings of your 2021 Cigna 360 Wellbeing Survey. It found 88 percent of employees were stressed, higher than the global average. As workers nod their heads reading this, what should leaders take away from this finding?
Our recent survey is a wake-up call for businesses and employers across the UAE to start prioritising their workforce’s wellbeing, and particularly mental health.
While the UAE has a strong focus on promoting wellbeing and driving initiatives to ensure the happiness of the population, the results from the survey show that there still remain gaps between employee needs/expectations and support offered by employers at workplace.
Health has been a key priority over the past 18 months as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has affected everyone in many different ways, but mental health for employees needs to be more highlighted going forward. Leaders must ensure that mental health support is normalised and provide more resources within the workplace.
We have many companies emerging from the pandemic with a desire to hit reset, to return to default behaviours of the past. What does your research mean, in your opinion, for these companies, are they running a risk?
Covid-19 has been a steep learning curve for people on a personal and professional level. The UAE leadership’s proactivity has resulted in a high uptake of vaccines and rigorous screening, combined with public support for safety measures, which is guiding the country back towards normality.
Our research shows that we must innovate, and we must adapt in order to thrive in a digitally driven world. We’ve seen many businesses struggle since the beginning of the pandemic due to the lack or delay of technology adoption and they are being left behind. Technology is evolving all the time and we need to become more creative and innovative if businesses will continue succeeding.
Additionally, the pandemic has resulted in evolved behaviours and needs. Employees are more aware of their healthcare needs today and are seeking enhanced and holistic health coverage plans, which include both mental and physical health.
Businesses need to understand that they cannot adopt the one-size-fits-all approach anymore and need to step up to offer tailored plans that cater to the needs and well-being of their employees. This is a crucial step in avoiding return behaviours of the past, which are detrimental both for the employee and the business in the long-term.
As insurance providers, it is our responsibility to offer innovative solutions that are affordable, accessible, and flexible to empower businesses to look after their employees. At Cigna, we remained committed to do and have developed solutions that help businesses address the needs of the employees.
It’s time we all come together to innovate and leverage technology to make quality healthcare more accessible.
Your research showed that more than half of employees were looking to leave their jobs, which ties into headlines such as The Great Resignation in the US. How should this serve as a wake-up call for boardrooms?
Employees need to be placed at the forefront of their business. Without them, a business cannot function efficiently. Companies need to start rewarding colleagues for their efforts, which will ultimately retain and attract the best talent.
By simply giving your workforce encouragement on a daily basis, checking-in regularly, allowing flexible working hours, providing employer benefit packages in line with employee expectations, this gives people a good reason to remain at their business.
Another finding showed that younger workers in particular were the most likely to leave their jobs, does that mean it is a question of ‘when’ not ‘if’ for companies, that an air sea change on mental health is coming whether they like it or not?
I believe that the government’s recent efforts for a work permit to allow older teenagers to get their first part-time job will give them much-needed workplace skills and a taste of working life.
Experiencing work at this age is a fantastic way for young people to harbour increased independence and a sense of responsibility. They can develop key skills such as time management and prioritising and allowing for effective preparation for full-time employment.
Companies need to start rewarding colleagues for their efforts, which will ultimately retain and attract the best talent.
As these young employees come into the workforce, it is our responsibility, as employers, to create an environment that helps young people thrive. A positive nurturing environment, coupled with a structured career and growth path, will ensure that our younger workers are confident and passionate about their jobs, enabling organisations to reap the benefit of their innovative and adaptable mindset.
Have we reached that inflection point yet here in this region? And if not, what is going to change leadership and C-Suite minds on this?
Talking about mental health and support for whole health needs to be normalised. Many people previously were worried and frightened to express their feelings and emotions with a fear that they would be judged or disregarded.
We’re witnessing many campaigns around the world that are changing people’s lives. One example is the Heads Together initiative, spearheaded by The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in the UK, which has been one of the most talked about initiatives in the world.
We need more campaigns here in the region to raise awareness of the implications of mental health and general wellbeing as we have observed a clear shift and inclination towards whole health.
There will be many C-Suiters who were raised in traditional hierarchical management structures where mental health was simply not to be discussed. How have you gone on your own journey over the years, what opened your eyes?
The results from the survey certainly raised alarm bells for me about the morale of workers in the UAE. We need to work as a community to raise awareness and drive positive change where mental health is concerned. We all need to come together to make a conscious effort to tackle the ‘always-on’ culture, which is a persistent issue that we have seen across all our studies over the last few years. Many people have been overworked and more care needs to be taken to look after staff.
C-suiters have a dual responsibility of not only driving the success of the business but also ensuring that employees are well looked after.
As leaders, C-suiters have a dual responsibility of not only driving the success of the business, but also ensuring that employees, a company’s greatest assets, are well looked after.
In order to break the traditional stereotypes, at Cigna, our leadership team and people managers, participated in a Mental Health Resilience Training. This helped us better understand employee mindset and needs, and more importantly prepares us to identify signs of fatigue in our colleagues and team members and provide resilience support when the need arises.
Importantly though, we can’t support employees without first ensuring that our own stress levels are in check. My colleagues and I at the Cigna international markets leadership team have been regularly reviewing our stress levels, using Cigna’s bespoke stress test, and make plans to deal with it.
It feels like the old adage ‘it’s tough at the top’ has never been more true. How much do leaders need to look inward? They are expected to cascade better care through the organisations, but how important is it for leaders to face up to their own mental health?
I would say that most people have been affected in some way by mental health, whether that’s personally or somebody close to them. CEOs and others in positions of leadership can open a door by modeling vulnerability. Sharing their own stories or even a simple admission that “I had a hard day” can go a long way toward normalising the conversation, showing employees that no one is alone in struggling with these feelings.
Employees tend to model the behaviours of their leaders and there is nothing more powerful than an authentic story from a CEO or senior executive.
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