Announcing ‘Pathways to Organizational Recovery’, the Community Health Report
Key Highlights
• Anxiety is the most prevalent mental health struggle worldwide, with young people suffering the most.
• Mental health is having a significant financial and economic impact, as well as impacting innovation, creativity and our ability to make sound decisions.
• The current workplace crisis is having a disproportionate effect on women, especially women of color. Meanwhile organizations are still struggling with diversity, inclusion, and equity issues, particularly at the leadership level.
• There are three things organizations can do immediately to improve the health of their employees:
1. Establish clear organizational structures and policies
2. Change the work culture to prioritize the mental health of teams
3. Invest in the care of their managers and leaders
We are happy to announce the release of this year’s Community Health Report, Pathways to Organizational Recovery.
The annual report is a tool to strengthen the health and well-being of digital rights networks across the world. This year’s edition provides community leaders and members with analysis, trends, reflections, and recommendations; so they can better identify interventions and areas of growth.
The report offers insights into the psychosocial challenges and impact the Covid-19 pandemic has had on digital rights defenders. It then provides practical insight and suggestions to help organizational and community leaders prioritize the wellbeing of their teams and improve employee health.
Join us on June 22 for a special Community Knowledge Workshop on the report. RSVP soon to secure your spot!
The report provides general recommendations based on a literature review of existing workplace research conducted over the last two years. It will be followed up in Fall 2022 with an action-oriented toolkit containing a set of policy recommendations that organizations can implement to improve organizational health.
The Problem: Digital Rights Organizations and Employees are Suffering
A significant percentage of organizations in the digital rights space were experiencing growing pains prior to the pandemic. Given this context, the pandemic has only deepened the schisms, inequity and structural weakness that already existed.
Managers and community leaders are exhausted as they have had to navigate uncharted waters in the last two years, while trying to take care of their teammates, the people they serve, their family, and of course themselves. As one manager shared:
“There was a moment where I was dealing with the death of a close family member because of COVID, while having to watch my home-bound children, AND dealing with my self-imploding staff, each of which were going through their own difficult personal issues. OHHOhh… and, by the way, finding out that the grant I was depending on, did not come through, while having to change the direction of my program because COVID. At that moment, I wanted the ground to swallow me, and I really almost gave up.”
Most importantly, however, employees are exhausted. Many have come close to burnout on multiple occasions. Not just because of the work and the impact of the pandemic, but because of the lack of labor rights, safety and security in many of our organizations. Alarmingly, they are not seeking the support they need. We are seeing the consequences: an exodus of talent coupled with a lack of onboarding ramps to bring in new talent.
The Good News: There is Hope & a Way Forward
Given the risks the field is facing means leaders have to prioritize ethics of care - the future of Internet Freedom depends on it. In other words, our actions and decision-making need to be people-centered, focused on care for our people and the communities we serve.
The good news is that leaders have the ability to significantly impact the quality of life of their employees and community members by establishing robust organizational structures and policies that contribute towards the creation of healthy work environments.
We Are Here To Help You
We encourage you to read the report to see a sample of best-practices recommendations. In addition, we are also offering private presentations of the report to organizational leaders. If you feel like your organization would benefit from this, reach out to us at team@digitalrights.community.