CORONAVIRUS
282 | ‘People Have Changed’: Hospitality industry deals with workers’ mental health in the age of COVID-19
CORONAVIRUS
The coronavirus crisis has put unprecedented amounts of stress not only on health care systems and economies but on workers’ mental health.
That’s the first and bottom line of a recent study by the Society of Human Resource Managers.
The professional association surveyed more than a thousand workers in mid-April and found that nearly half feel emotionally drained from their work. The younger the employee, the more likely they feel burned out.
Employees who feel totally sapped of energy are more prone to depression.
As state and local economies reopen amid the threat of COVID-19, citizens are getting back to daily living. But people are not the same as they were before the pandemic struck, experts say, and the nation’s workplaces may be where mental health issues become most obvious.
In this episode of Lodging Leaders, we focus on mental health in the workplace – particularly the hospitality industry which has been dramatically impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Featured in this report are Silpa Patel, a hotelier in Tennessee who has battled depression and now works with behavioral health organizations to eliminate the stigma of mental illness; Darcy Gruttadaro, director of the Center for Workplace Mental Health at the American Psychiatric Foundation in Washington, D.C.; Wendi Safstrom, executive director of the Society for Human Resource Management Foundation in Alexandria, Va.; and Marjorie Morrison, co-founder and CEO of Psych Hub in Nashville, Tennessee.
Resources and Links
- Silpa Patel of Stigma Zero and the Tennessee Association of Alcohol, Drug and Other Addiction Services
- Darcy Gruttadaro of the Center for Workplace Mental Health at the American Psychiatric Foundation
- Wendi Safstrom, executive director of the Society for Human Resource Management Foundation
- Marjorie Morrison of PsychHub
CORONAVIRUS
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330 | Youthful Perspective: Industry leader Bijal Patel mourns the loss of ‘an entire generation’ of hospitality workers
Bijal Patel, 31, is CEO of Coast Redwood Hospitality and the youngest chair of the California Hotel & Lodging Association. He’s made even more history at CHLA by agreeing to serve an unprecedented second term as the lodging industry emerges from the coronavirus pandemic. Patel is a third-generation hotelier. Being so steeped in hospitality at such a young age is not new for members of the Indian American hotelier community, but Patel fears the pandemic has drained the industry of emerging talent. Lodging Leaders spotlights Patel, who represents a leadership demographic that is fighting for the life of the hospitality industry as they watch their peers veer toward other career paths.
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329 | Ruff and Ready: ADA gives hotels a short leash when accommodating guests with service animals
Many hotels these days have made room for guests with disabilities. Hotel managers and staff should also know what the Americans with Disabilities Act says about accommodating guests with pets. During the pandemic lockdowns, a lot of people added a pet to their household and now they’re bringing Fido along on vacation. Hotel employees need to know how to cater to both consumers who are pet owners as well as guests who travel with a trained service animal. Episode 329 of Lodging Leaders podcast reports on how the ADA defines a service animal and how a hotel is legally obligated to serve a guest who comes with a dog or any other animal.