CKGSB Survey Finds Key Details on Employee Mental Health during COVID-19 Lockdown

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Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB)

Jul 31, 2020, 09:02 ET

BEIJING, July 31, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Individual psychological resilience has a strong bearing on corporate resilience. The CKGSB Leadership and Motivation Research Center, led by Dr. Zhang Xiaomeng, Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB), launched a survey series to understand the core concerns and strategies of entrepreneurs in various sectors in these unprecedented times.

The 5,835 entrepreneurs and employees surveyed showed relatively high levels of psychological resilience, loyalty, stress resistance, and demand for learning and self-improvement opportunities. Each of the five thematic reports in the survey reveals key details and data. "Episode #1: Tracking Work Resumption" lays out the status of companies and individuals before and after the resumption of work. "Episode #2: Resuming Work: Gender Differences" reveals similarities and differences between male and female leaders, managers and employees. "Episode #3: Building Organizational Resilience" explores factors that impact the resilience levels. "Episode #4: Stress Management" analyzes stressors, stress management and loyalty. "Episode #5: Accelerating the Recovery" analyzes resilience levels in terms of business and psychological recovery.

Key findings are as follows:

Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) have suffered most from this epidemic, with SME employees showing low psychological resilience levels and very high degrees of depression and anxiety.
The choices and methods of work resumption and the individual's working state have a huge influence on mental state, with work, family and unclear strategic direction being important stress factors.
Particular attention and care should be placed on the mental state of female, young, new, and junior staff. Comparatively, these employees have relatively lower levels of resilience, and very high levels of depression, anxiety and stress.
In the face of considerable stress, female leaders and executives show a higher level of psychological resilience than their male peers.
The survey looks at the intensity of online work, its efficiency and impact on communication, company epidemic prevention and control policies as well as employee care packages and job satisfaction, finding that these factors have a big impact on employee's mental health.
Cultivating and maintaining positive social relationships is an important indicator of social resilience. Sports and communication with family and friends are very effective de-stressors, with respondents who engage in philanthropic work reporting the lowest levels of stress.

For the full results and findings, visit: https://english.ckgsb.edu.cn

SOURCE Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB)