UnitedHealthcare’s parent company, UnitedHealth Group, has approximately 400,000 employees.
MINNEAPOLIS — In the wake of Wednesday’s murder of Brian Thompson in midtown Manhattan, UnitedHealth Group, the nation’s largest health care company, is facing the challenge of supporting its employees through a difficult time. With nearly 400,000 employees, the impact of events like this reverberates throughout the organization, with many employees struggling with a range of emotions.
Jim Mortensen, president of R3 Continuum, a Minnesota-based health behavioral counseling company, emphasizes the far-reaching impact such tragedies have on employees. R3 Continuum provides counseling to more than 2 million people who have experienced traumatic events and contracts with approximately 7,000 counselors to assist with such situations.
“Part of our job as counselors is to understand the typical reactions people experience and help them understand, ‘I’m not crazy,'” Mortensen said.
George Vergolias, R3 Continuum’s chief clinical officer, describes R3 Continuum’s services as “behavioral and psychological emergency response.” The company’s initial focus is to establish a sense of safety and calm for those affected.
“We want to create a zone of psychological safety where people can express the wide variety of complex emotions they’re feeling,” Vergolias said.
R3 Continuum’s goal is to help people return to a sense of normalcy within two weeks to a month. However, they warn that some people may struggle beyond this period. Signs of long-term distress may include increased irritability and anger, and these symptoms can affect employees at all levels of an organization.
“Many companies forget that while their leaders appear resilient in the face of crisis, they also need the same level of support and assistance that understands the unique challenges they face.” said Vergolias.
R3 Continuum experts also emphasized the importance of leadership transparency during times like these. This approach encourages leaders to be open about their emotions because it helps employees feel that it is acceptable to express their feelings in conflict.
