The covid-19 pandemic brought the tension and linkages of mental health and work effectiveness for mobile employees to the forefront.
According to the WHO, “the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a 25% increase in anxiety and depression worldwide” [1]. And when it comes to mobile employees, the numbers are much higher. A recent study by Cigna Global Health found that expats’ stress levels have reached an all-time high: 90% of expats report being stressed, significantly higher than those living in their home country (77%) [2]. And when employees are stressed, their resilience and mental health decline, which causes inadequate performance at work, poor productivity, and weak leadership.
This substantially affects how organisations and employees grasp wellbeing in the modern world. According to a Mercer report, “for many organisations, the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted gaps in employee emotional wellness benefit utilisation.” At the same time, “employees now perceive health benefits not only as an expected part of the employment contract but as something of true value”, the report states. “One in three employees would forgo a pay increase for additional wellbeing offerings for themselves or their family.” [3]
Through virtual coaching, global organisations can expand mental wellness benefits to retain and build trust with employees and reinforce their resilience.
In the recent past, providing mental support to mobile employees was tough. It was challenging and complex to find an expert in the new host country who was not only available but also understood the employees’ cultural background, spoke their language, and understood what they were going through. But due to increasingly hybrid working models, people are more accustomed to and receptive to receiving virtual support. Cigna found that consumers are satisfied with receiving virtual behavioural/mental health support and are likely to use it again.
Virtual coaching offers a safe and confidential space to address challenges and issues. And it can be done from anywhere in the world, matching the right expert with your employee.
Moreover, not only does it contribute to the mental health of employees, but it also improves employee and leadership development and performance management.
Organisations are starting to realise this as well. According to research, “32% of organisations use internal coach practitioners, external coach practitioners, and managers/leaders using coaching skills simultaneously.” [6]
The 5 specific challenges that virtual coaching addresses
When provided by a certified professional coach who is or was also an expat and a mobile employee, coaching can help solve the specific challenges that mobile employees and international organisations face:
Build resilience to navigate the significant life and job change the mobile employee undergoes at the beginning and end of an international assignment.
Coaching uses the tool of identification-action-reflection-moving forward. With the coach’s assistance, the mobile employee identifies goals and needs, decides how to achieve them, and moves into action. Later, mobile employees get to reflect on the learning from the activities, which helps them move toward their goals.
- Adapt leadership style to address the “loss of control” as decisions come from the headquarter and policymakers are in a different country.
Coaching focuses on mobile employees and helps them find internal resilience and capacity, restoring their sense of control over their career and self and contributing to effectiveness at work.
- Provide professional development so organisations can retain their top talent. Talent competition is fierce: 40% of employees consider leaving their job and exploring different options. [7]
Coaching helps to expand people’s leadership, strengths, and confidence and assists organisations in developing strategies to increase employee retention.
- Provide a friendly and trusted support group to decrease emotional vulnerability caused by living and working in a foreign country. The high emotional exposure caused by the relocation can cause a ripple effect that hurts the workplace atmosphere and affects work performance.
Coaching helps mobile employees to regulate emotions and calm down. As a result, the employee learns to be thoughtful, patient and has the confidence to engage with colleagues.
- Organisations are susceptible to constant organisational change –strategic, human, structural, or remedial. This has a powerful impact on mobile employees, who are that extra step removed from these changes. Yet, they are affected by it directly.
Coaching helps to navigate change, understand needs and how to express them, and develop strategies for keeping boundaries as things change.
Virtual coaching has opened up opportunities for organisations to provide wellbeing support to their mobile employees – and their families. Coaching improves mental health, and increases work performance while protecting the employees’ privacy.
Would you like to learn more about how coaching helps organisations and mobile employees and how Prosper Abroad can support your mobile employees?
Get in touch per e-mail.
“This article was originally published on Prosper Abroad Coaching and has been republished here with permission”
References
[1] 2022, WHO News; accessed at https://www.who.int/news/item/02-03-2022-covid-19-pandemic-triggers-25-increase-in-prevalence-of-anxiety-and-depression-worldwide
[2] 2022, CIGNA, Global Well-being Survey 2022. Accessed at: https://www.cignaglobalhealth.com/static/docs/pdfs/na/cigna-360-global-well-being-survey-2022.pdf
[3] 2022, Mercer, Global Talent Trends study. Accessed at: https://www.mercer.com/our-thinking/career/global-talent-hr-trends.html
[4] 2022, Ernst & Young: Five ways organisations can help employees shift from fear to resilience. Accessed at https://www.ey.com/en_gl/workforce/five-ways-organizations-can-help-employees-shift-from-fear-to-resilience.
[5] 2021, CIGNA, Cigna 360 Wellbeing Survey. Accessed at: https://ghb.cigna.com/2021Cigna360WellbeingSurvey-report-subpage4?elqTrackId=aa378e82d98c421884b9e5d1a03483a7&elq=00000000000000000000000000000000&elqaid=1953&elqat=2&elqCampaignId=
[6] 2019, International Coaching Federation, Building Strong Coaching Cultures for the Future
[7] 2022, McKinsey & Company, The Great Renegotiation and new talent pools; Accessed at: https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/the-great-attrition-is-making-hiring-harder-are-you-searching-the-right-talent-pools.
Thnx!
Great post
Exactly!