Here’s something interesting about the COVID-19 pandemic. When you ask people what’s happened to their well-being and their finances during the pandemic, the majority of those surveyed report that the drop in their well-being has been dramatically worse than the impact on their finances.

I have been on a couple of conference calls recently where people have said that we’re facing a genuine mental-health crisis. The number of people reporting depression or anxiety in the United States, for instance, has nearly tripled, and other countries have reported big increases as well. Some people may well recover on their own, at least in the short term. But some won’t recover or may recover now but may also have a higher likelihood of mental-health issues in the future. It’s vitally important not to miss early opportunities to intervene; the longer these issues are left unaddressed, the harder it is to provide help.

Yet I still see some people in business and government who are quite narrowly focused: not on a person’s overall quality of life, well-being, or happiness, but on money—on how we keep jobs, maintain wages, get a bounce-back in the economy, and so on. Many governments have supported people on the financial front, providing allowances and setting up employment schemes to make sure they have enough money. That’s very important. But we may not be doing enough to help people with the things they say they are most concerned about: mental health, relationships, and loneliness.

What if society only realizes the depths of a mental-health crisis through the lens of money? In other words, people not showing up to work, not being able to work productively or concentrate, and flooding healthcare services. That would get noticed—but I very much hope that, as a society, we don’t wait for such a crash before we act more broadly. The impacts of the pandemic do appear to have elevated mental health to a board-level issue in many organizations—but it needs serious attention at all levels and well beyond the pandemic.

In my opinion, we need to overhaul our thinking on what constitutes a good life and good work. Research has found that 25 percent of the variation in people’s overall well-being is explained by their job satisfaction. That’s huge—it’s the second-largest determinant of life satisfaction after mental health. And what drives job satisfaction isn’t pay. Most of it is relationships at work, how interesting the job is, social stuff. By far the biggest factor in work relationships—80 percent—is your relationship with your boss. Think of that.

At first, I was flabbergasted by how important your relationship with your boss is to your life happiness. But of course, when you think about your own experiences and those of your friends and family, it feels precisely right. I’ve had bosses who I really enjoyed working with, who were supportive, who were kind, and who were positive— and my life has been happier. It’s easy to see how this spills over and impacts our lives and relationships beyond work.

Leaders can help by doing some really small things. Clearly, leaders should also be doing big things, like trying to change the culture of the organization. But small things also matter. When you ask people how they’re doing and genuinely want to hear the answer, you help them feel safe—you empathize if they’re finding something hard or stressful. You don’t jump to problem solving; instead, you’re a listening ear or a shoulder to cry on or whatever else is needed. You thank people for what they do because you are grateful. Thanking people doesn’t cost anything, so why aren’t we doing more of it?

The research is clear. The happier you make your employees, the more productive they are, the fewer sick days they take, and the more they delight the customer. Shareholders win, and so does society.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tera Allas is a director of research and economics in McKinsey’s London office.

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