In this first episode of HR in the driver's seat I'm speaking with Aaron McEwan, coaching psychologist and vice president of research and advisory at Gartner.
We talk through some of the mental health challenges brought about by the pandemic and the rise of remote work while also getting his thoughts on the important issues that need addressing. Aaron has some particularly interesting comments to make about what organisations, managers and HR professionals can do to address current and future challenges in this area.
By way of background, the average Australian employee reportedly did around 5.25 hours of unpaid overtime a week in 2020. That equates to roughly seven weeks over the entire year.
Remote work has made it even harder for employees to switch off at the end of the day, and employees have been working in a hyper-productive manner to help their businesses recover from the setbacks of 2020 or, in some cases, to stave off fears of losing their jobs.
The short of it? Most employees are working longer and harder than ever before and the consequences could be devastating.
I hope you find the conversation as enjoyable and informative as I did :-)
This is the first of 4 episodes in the series which is sponsored content on behalf of Leaseplan, initially published in HRM, the news site of the Australian HR Institute.