Reshaping work and workplaces: learnings from the pandemic for workplace health management

The employment and social measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic have had substantial impacts on individuals, families, organisations and societies worldwide (WHO, 2020). The way we work has been affected, including the negative impact from working from home (WFH) for prolonged periods of time, difficulties in balancing work and family demands, isolation and reduced social support because of social distancing, and disruptions in normal working patterns and in teamwork (Ipsen et al., 2021; O'Connor et al., 2020), while many of the benefits of work to health have been compromised (Joyce et al., 2016; Waddell and Burton, 2006). When work frameworks and boundaries break down, work–life balance can be harder to achieve, a tendency comes in to work more hours, providing support and visible leadership can be more difficult, and social interaction weakens (Hesketh and Cooper, 2019; Kelliher and Anderson, 2010). However, these dramatic changes have also had positive impacts, such as the majority of people WFH welcoming the change and some reporting higher efficiency and productivity (Ipsen et al., 2021). Thus, post-traumatic growth or “transformative positive change that can occur as a result of a struggle with great adversity” (Maitlis, 2020) has been experienced in many fields, including the workplace. The pandemic impacted on work-related health and well-being, by both compromising our (employees, managers and professionals') ability to support individuals and organisations but at the same time providing new opportunities for growth in workplace health, well-being and performance.