With the WFH arrangements, Willis Tower Watsons, along with many other companies, launched their own initiatives to boost engagement among their people. Cecille Fernandez shared, “We established the Weekly Wandering Guide, an electronic page that features potential interests our colleagues can check out over the weekend. Now that we are on quarantine, the features shifted various potential interests that colleagues can enjoy at home with their families – what movies to watch (say, on Netflix), what e-books to read, and other digital materials to help others learn new skills and explore new hobbies.” In addition, they also launched #MakingItWork, a corporate-wide campaign where people can share how they have been able to “make it work” during this lockdown.

Nico Mallillin, Vice President for Human Resources at GCash, is proud that their company was agile enough to adapt to the swift changes, as most of their teams were accustomed to doing remote work. “However, we also needed to address a new challenge, which is taking care of the mental health of our team.” Protecting mental health should be a priority among companies, especially during crisis, he stresses. “And so GCash is now connecting with partners to provide tele-counseling. And we are sharing more references and materials with our teams on how to deal with stress and other mental health concerns.”

At Pushpin Visual Solutions, a creative agency, Elbert Or shared that “even before the pandemic, we had already given our people the permission to opt-out of meetings or even not involve them completely if they say or we feel that they need the space. We explicitly tell them, ‘You do not need to be here, you do not need to be on work mode all the time.’” This is an effective and gracious approach that gives people the time, space, and freedom (without the guilt) to take care of their mental health.