Benefits of COVID-19 on Employee Wellbeing and Workplace Culture

In 2020, amidst isolation and uncertainty, this blog was originally written to name what few dared to: the potential hidden gifts of the COVID crisis. From slowing down to rediscovering community, to taking a step back and reflecting on what mattered to us as humans, the original blog captured what was unfolding as the benefits of COVID-19.

Now, five years on, we revisit those 15 "benefits" of COVID through a strategic HR lens. What held true? What changed when it came to wellbeing in the workplace? And what do HR leaders still need to act on to future-proof their wellbeing strategies?

COVID gave organisations a permission slip to rewrite outdated rules and challenge the status quo. Let’s make sure we embed those lessons and build on them to create workforces that thrive.

1. Sharing Resources: Scarcity Became Community

Then: Empty shelves sparked fear and generosity. Communities formed WhatsApp groups to share food, supplies, and information.

Now: Knowledge-sharing and peer-support are embodied in many HR cultures. Slack channels, mental health champions, and mentoring networks have scaled across sectors.

Example: BUPA launched internal wellbeing communities during the pandemic that now support resilience and leadership capability building.

Stat: According to Gartner (2023), 64% of HR leaders have now implemented some form of internal peer-led support system for mental wellbeing.

Still Needed: Formalise peer-based support into your wellbeing strategy. Equip team members to spot emotional shifts, not just managers.

2. Kindness as Currency

Then: From food bank volunteering to checking in on neighbours, kindness led.

Now: Empathy is being trained as a leadership competency. Roles like "Head of Belonging" have emerged.

Example: Co-op Bank embedded compassion in their performance reviews, measuring how people support others.

Stat: 72% of employees say they are more loyal to companies where empathy is visibly practised by leadership (Businessolver, 2024).

Still Needed: Mental health and leadership teaching that raises self-awareness and consciousness that helps to develop empathy. 

3. Collective Resilience

Then: We clapped. We donated. We survived together.

Now: Cross-functional resilience planning is normal. More orgs run scenario-based wellbeing workshops.

Example: NHS trusts now run team debriefs focused on emotional processing after high-stress incidents.

Stat: The CIPD (2024) reports that 58% of UK organisations now have resilience-building initiatives.

Still Needed: Train teams in recovery, trauma in the workplace, not just endurance. Our Treating Trauma the Easy Way is perfect for creating strong, healthy workforces from the inside out. 

4. Real Human Contact

Then: Isolation made us crave real connection.

Now: More 1:1s, wellbeing check-ins, and rituals like "Feel Fridays" exist.

Example: EY launched global connection weeks for teams to meet virtually with no agenda.

Stat: 85% of remote employees report feeling more valued when their manager holds weekly check-ins (Gallup, 2023).

Still Needed: Train managers in recognising non-verbal emotional cues on Zoom and facilitate 'human' conversations that foster connection. Our mental health training for managers teaches them how to create a psychologically safe environment, enabling their teams to feel secure in speaking out. Additionally, it helps managers recognise when an employee is struggling and provides guidance on how to proactively support them. 

5. Basic Hygiene: A Public Reset

Then: Wash your hands became a global command.

Now: Workplaces include hand sanitiser stations, cleaner air systems, and no-pressure sick leave.

Still Needed: Remove shame from illness. Promote rest as strategic recovery. Ensure sick policies reflect this.

6. Prioritising Physical Health

Then: Supplements, walks, green juice: health first.

Now: Mental and physical health are treated as integrated. More wellbeing webinars include sleep, gut, and fitness modules.

Example: Deloitte’s Thrive programme offers holistic wellbeing support.

Stat: Aon (2024) found that 71% of employers expanded their wellbeing offering to cover nutrition, fitness, and sleep support since 2020.

Still Needed: Measure wellbeing outcomes to show the commercial ROI. This helps wellbeing managers and HR Leaders recognise how different wellbeing initiatives are working well.  Before rolling out any wellbeing initiative, stop and ask what you are trying to achieve and WHY? What's going to let you know the wellbeing initiative has been successful? 

7. Time to Heal

Then: We finally rested.

Now: Return-to-work policies post-illness or burnout are more human-first.

Stat: Mind (2023) states that 1 in 5 employees felt pressured to return to work too early after a mental health-related absence.

Still Needed: Support phased returns. Coach line managers on return to work processes, as we teach managers in our mental health awareness programme. 

8. Slowing the Pace

Then: No events. No commutes. Just breathe.

Now: Some organisations honour deep work time. Meeting-free Fridays exist.

Still Needed: Protect mental whitespace. Culture change starts at the top. Audit calendar bloat. Empower employees to block time for focused work.

9. Reclaiming Family Time

Then: Meals together. Real conversations.

Now: Flex schedules and family leave policies have improved.

Stat: ONS (2024) reports a 39% increase in fathers taking parental leave since 2020.

Still Needed: Design flexibility for everyone,  not just caregivers. Make rest and recovery universal, not situational.

10. Reinventing Work

Then: We pivoted overnight. Teachers. Chefs. Coders. All adapted.

Now: Innovation is decentralised. Employees co-design solutions.

Example: Google’s 20% project principle is being mirrored by smaller companies.

Still Needed: Celebrate micro-innovation. Normalise iteration. Failure = learning.

11. Flexible Working: No Longer a Myth

Then: We proved it could work.

Now: CIPD (2024) reports 83% of UK organisations support hybrid work.

Stat: 52% of employees say flexible work is their #1 reason for staying in a role (McKinsey, 2023).

Still Needed: Trust people. Train managers in distributed leadership. Shift focus from visibility to outcomes.

12. Health Over Hustle

Then: We finally stopped.

Now: Mental health days, recovery time, and therapy stipends are more common.

Still Needed: To change the story about what determines 'high performance' and to help employees see the link between wellbeing and high performance. To break the old status quo about the number of hours worked and help employees fully understand the neuroscience of stress. 

13. Letting Go

Then: We surrendered to the unknown.

Now: Mindfulness, trauma-awareness, and EQ are part of leadership pathways.

Still Needed: Train leaders to regulate under pressure. Not just act. Include emotional agility in manager development.

14. Planet First

Then: The air cleared.

Now: ESG now includes mental health, DEI, and sustainability together.

Still Needed: Link green initiatives to nervous system health: walks, daylight, biophilic design.

15. Remembering What Matters

Then: Health > headlines. Love > logistics.

Now: People want purpose. Retention depends on it.

Stat: Qualtrics (2024) found that 76% of Gen Z employees would leave an employer who doesn’t align with their personal values.

Still Needed: Make purpose the pillar of your wellbeing strategy.

For HR Leaders: Your Wellbeing Strategy Has to Match the Moment

The organisations winning in 2025 are those who embedded the COVID-era lessons into long-term culture shifts:

• Psychological safety

• Flexible work design

• Emotionally intelligent leadership

• Consistent wellbeing delivery

That’s where we come in.  With over a decade of HR experience, we know that your HR and wellbeing strategy is here to create the right impact. We have over 10,000 hours of hands-on support and wellbeing in the workplace training to guide you. 

Need some help with workplace wellbeing? Contact us now.