3 Ways to Be a Shoulder to Lean on for Employees During Trauma Employees need support now more than ever -- and it's up to leaders to bolster them.

Being president and CEO of a global company for some time now, I've found myself in the difficult position of guiding an organization through multiple traumatic events. Although each presented its own unique challenges, all these events shared a common thread: the need to support employees by not alleviating, but elevating in positive ways.

The current crisis shone a brighter light on the importance of mental health than before. A 2021 report by Mental Health America found that the vast majority of employees (83%) are experiencing at least the first signs of burnout. Likewise, around 90% of employees admitted that their own workplace-related stress impacts their mental health, with more than 65% of workers saying it's "difficult to concentrate" due to draining work environments.

During this period, our company has done a substantial amount of employee outreach to quell these feelings. We invite doctors to share their experiences with our staff, hold Monday morning meetings to discuss our social responsibility progress, and provide employees with volunteer opportunities.