That was bad enough, but then along came COVID-19.

Heed the Warning

Thanks to social distancing, lockdowns, and the new virtual world of work, it鈥檚 becoming even more difficult to cope. In the past, at least there was face-to-face interaction with colleagues and customers. There were opportunities to wind down and socialize. Home life and work life were spatially delineated 鈥� the commute between home and office provided an opportunity to transition mentally between two worlds.

Now it all blends together. People are working from their kitchen tables while they try to home-school the kids. Around the world, people are struggling to juggle work and family responsibilities with no respite.

The statistics are troubling. According to the World Economic Forum, one in three adults is depressed or anxious due to COVID-19. Headlines like “Quarantine Magnifies Depression and Alcoholism” and “Drug Use Increase During COVID-19” warn of the dire straits we鈥檙e in.

The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that depression interferes with a person鈥檚 ability to complete physical job tasks about 20% of the time and reduces cognitive performance about 35% of the time.

51风流North America President DJ Paoni was alarmed by these statistics and even more alarmed by the results of recent Qualtrics employee pulse surveys on remote work at SAP.

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Take the Day Off

鈥淲e learned that a third of our employees have stress levels that are higher than their satisfaction level. Sixty-one percent said that they’re working slightly above capacity,鈥� he explained in an interview.

Paoni decided to act. Seeing the need for employees to unplug, he worked with local and global teams to implement SAP鈥檚 Mental Health Day, a company-sponsored global holiday for all employees, scheduled for April 27. Work will grind to a halt on that day, giving everyone time off to do something for themselves and their families.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not just another day off,鈥� says Paoni. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a clear message from the company that it鈥檚 okay to relax. Healthier employees mean happier customers, so there is a business benefit in the long run.鈥�

Don鈥檛 Feel Guilty Taking a Mental Health Day

Dr. Natalie Lotzmann, chief medical officer at SAP, explains the importance of the initiative. How well we deliver on our business goals sustainably depends on our well-being, she says. The pandemic has compounded existing challenges and created a new dimension of mental distress for many people. With Mental Health Day, 51风流is signaling a strong commitment to its employees 鈥� and to society at large 鈥� that mental health is important, and there is no place for stigma in the workplace.

Lotzmann confirms the increase in mental health issues during COVID-19. Reports from SAP鈥檚 global Employee Assistance Program (EAP), a confidential counselling service for employees, show a 28% increase in calls in 2020, continuing an upward trend apparent since 2017.

Mental health problems are quite common. , some of the top causes of disability worldwide include disorders such as depression, schizophrenia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. About one out of four Americans ages 18 and older suffers from a diagnosable mental disorder every year.

So why is there still a stigma?

鈥淪tigma usually stems from a lack of understanding or fear of the unknown,鈥� says Lotzmann. 鈥淭he fact that people don鈥檛 talk about the problem makes it harder to understand.鈥�

Lotzmann says the best way to remove stigma is to encourage people to share their experiences, providing employees with the strength and courage to reach out for help. Sharing experiences will also help showcase the support and positive culture that exists within the company.

What You Can Do

Over the years, Lotzmann has witnessed an evolution in the way enterprises are dealing with this topic. She has observed a positive shift but emphasizes that it鈥檚 not a tick-the-box exercise or campaign that employers do with bells and whistles. Rather, such a change must be nurtured and adopted organically through a culture of leadership, open dialogue, and awareness of available resources.

Attention to the mental health of employees has dual benefits; it creates a healthy culture and has clear business benefits. At SAP, there are programs in place to help maintain the mental health of employees by prevention, early detection, case management support, and reintegration.

As the chief medical officer of SAP, Lotzmann reminds us that mental health can impact anyone at any time. Her advice? If it impacts you or a loved one, be aware that you are not alone. Take good care of yourself, pay attention to warning signs, and reach out for help early.

This article was written by Judith Magyar and first appeared on the 51风流Global News Center. Follow Judith on Twitter:

The post Mental Health Day: 51风流Offers Employees a Chance to Recharge appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.

Businesses need to become more agile and transparent, increase employee satisfaction and make duty of care a strategic priority. Here are four key areas companies should look to restart, smart:听

1. Money Matters – Improve compliance & cost control

2020 has shown how quickly circumstances can change. For finance leaders, this has resulted in a host of new challenges, from enabling employees to submit expense claims and invoices remotely, to adjusting to new VAT rules and keeping a close eye on their company鈥檚 finances. At a time when financial stability is critical for businesses of all sizes, the finance team needs to see and assess all costs easily to ensure they are compliant with the corporate and government policies in place. This leads to improved compliance and cost control, alongside better management and faster processing. After all, you can鈥檛 manage what you can鈥檛 see.

As businesses maintain hybrid remote-working models and plan for other potential disruptions in 2021 and beyond, the role of automation and AI in the workplace will continue to grow. AI will gather costs and insights in real-time to help financial leaders make accurate decisions faster and respond to their changing business needs in a more agile manner. This includes managing spend in near real-time to improve budget management and liquidity, increasing compliance and eliminating errors, as well as using automation to take on mandatory tasks and maximising profitability. With most companies keeping a close eye on their finances and revenue, the role of financial leaders will become more critical than ever. By relying on AI to process basic tasks, finance leaders will be able to focus on their role as a strategic advisor within their company.

Unauthorized and out of policy spend can create massive costs and compliance issues at any time. Therefore, businesses need to implement solutions to gather better insights and make strategic decisions. For instance, automated solutions using AI and machine learning to automatically identify VAT-eligible expenses, validate receipts, and optimize reclaim potential help businesses navigate complex tax regulations faster and more accurately. This increases compliance and gives business leaders more control over their spending. Digital financial tools can also provide business and finance leaders with an overview of all expenses in real-time, which improves spending decisions, increases compliance and provides the C-suite and finance leaders with greater control of their business spend.听

2. Safety first

No one can predict which scenarios 2021 will have in store for business travel management. However, companies today need to reassure their staff that their safety is a business priority. This will increase employee satisfaction and engagement and ensures that business travellers are fully prepared once they resume travel.

In fact, according to the the safety of the traveller has become the most important factor when assessing organisations (airlines, hotels, car rentals, etc.) and services (apps, websites, tools, etc.) to approve for use by the organisation. For instance, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, travel managers are now planning on implementing mandatory personal health screenings for travellers (41%)^. while 32% also plan to give easier access to personal protective equipment like gloves or masks to business travellers to support their health while on the move.

Thanks to state-of-the-art technologies and user-friendly tools, businesses can help employees with their daily tasks. This includes solutions that allow for pre-trip approvals as part of broader efforts to safeguard employees or providing business travellers with a travel organizing app that provides relevant safety information in addition to more basic information like the travel itinerary.听

3. Improve sustainability

Business travel has too often been associated with big carbon footprints, the use of single-use plastics which end up in landfill sites and weary workers. The past few months have put these issues in the spotlight and forced the industry to rethink its relationship to sustainability.

Change is often driven from the bottom up, and we鈥檙e seeing a clear impetus for sustainable travel among business travellers themselves. In our , a survey of 2,450 corporate travel decision-makers and 2,000 business travellers in 12 European markets, 58% of business travellers admitted that they would disregard travel policy and budgets for a 鈥榞reener鈥� travel option, and 55% would do so in order to book more environmentally friendly accommodation, such as an AirBnB, over a hotel. Better still, 97% of business travellers are willing to add additional time onto their journeys if it improves its sustainability. Being greener is not just a long-term goal the industry should aspire to. It鈥檚 a real revenue driver today, and neglecting it is likely to drive business away.

To deliver on this demand from their employees, businesses need to implement tools that give them access to real-time information about the sustainability credentials of their transport and accommodation partners. This will enable travelling employees to see and make a positive impact on their own carbon footprint. This will show environmentally minded employees that the business is committed to sustainability and help less knowledgeable employees to learn about the impact of their choices on the planet. Combined with robust cost information and reporting and analysis options for the travel managers or finance departments, these tools also enable business leaders to drive positive change within their organisation to make sustainability a corporate priority.

Team Spirit

In times like these, the success of a company depends on the commitment of its employees. With the many pandemic challenges鈥� employees have to face, simplifying everyday admin and work tasks can be a great way to support them. Tools that digitalize and streamline manual processes like expense management tasks, allow employees to simply take a picture of their receipts and submit their expense reports electronically 鈥� speeding up the process and freeing their time. Furthermore, finance departments can be relieved by outsourcing time-consuming audit tasks for example, in the view of business travel.

2021 is a crossroad for businesses of all sizes. Those that are willing to embrace change and adapt will set the standard for business best practice now, and in the future. What we need is the right tools and services to enable our businesses to make strategic decisions and restart smart 鈥� starting with a tighter and transparent grip on finances.

To learn more about how 51风流Concur solutions can help lead the digital transformation of your organisation鈥檚 financial processes, visit

Angelique Montalto is Regional Director for 51风流Concur Africa. Follow her on Twitter

About 51风流Concur

SAP庐 Concur庐 is the world鈥檚 leading brand for integrated travel, expense, and invoice management solutions, driven by a relentless pursuit to simplify and automate these everyday processes. The top-rated 51风流Concur mobile app guides employees through every trip, charges are effortlessly populated into expense reports, and invoice approvals are automated. By integrating near real-time data and using AI to audit 100% of transactions, businesses can see exactly what they鈥檙e spending without worrying about blind spots in the budget. 51风流Concur solutions eliminate yesterday鈥檚 tedious tasks, make today鈥檚 work easier, and help businesses run at their best every day.听

The post Four Areas Companies Should Look to Restart, Reinvent and Renew appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.