Supporting employee
well-being during
COVID-19

Our global, coordinated response

Invesco began responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in December 2019 when the virus was first reported in Asia-Pacific. Our response has been led by Invesco’s senior leaders, who meet frequently with our Emergency Management Team and global and regional task forces. All COVID-19 response measures were rolled out while preserving our ability to serve clients and manage client assets by maintaining smooth and uninterrupted operations.

Our initial response in the Asia Pacific region included the relocation of a regional trading center, restrictions on employee travel to and from the region and remote working for most of our Asia-Pacific-based employees. By late February, as the virus began spreading across Europe and North America, all Invesco business travel was halted; we implemented visitor restrictions for our offices; and remote working requirements were established across continental Europe and the U.K. By early March, all global Invesco employees were working remotely. We adapted to a remote working environment with minimal interruption due to several factors, including our flexible work guidelines, robust technology platforms and dedicated security teams.

Keeping informed and staying connected

Although COVID-19 is creating physical distance among our employees, we are still implementing measures that foster connection.

Invesco conducted five check-in surveys in 2020 to gauge the general well-being of our employees, help inform Invesco’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and highlight topics of concern. The results of these surveys helped ensure employees were provided the support and resources to stay safe, healthy, connected and productive.

The InvescoTogether website serves as the dedicated hub for all COVID-19-related information, remote success resources and virtual connection point for Invesco employees. The site contains content that helps employees stay well, stay productive and stay connected, including:

• Resources and training on how to stay healthy and balanced, including links to COVID-19 specific benefits information, virtual mindfulness workshops and employee assistance information

• Tips, tools and resources for how to make the most of our new working environment—complete with working-from-home guides, caregiving and homeschooling resources
• Best practices for maintaining meaningful connections virtually
• Human Resource guides to assist employees and managers
• Workshops registration
• Invesco Benefits information
• Links to the #InvescoTogether Yammer feed, which provides virtual opportunities for employees to connect and share ideas to manage work, build resilience and navigate uncertainty

Due to its success and frequent use by employees across the globe, InvescoTogether will continue as a resource for employees after the pandemic.

Additionally, our senior managing directors regularly communicate COVID-19 updates through live video streams, recorded audio messages, casual digital question and answer forums and written communications. In addition to the InvescoTogether site, internal social media and mobile apps provide our employees with access to information anytime, anywhere, from any device.

A Focus on well-being

The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed the way many of our employees work. For most, it has required a shift to at-home offices, often coupled with new caregiving responsibilities. Along with uncertainty, the pandemic has also brought feelings of isolation and anxiety to some of our employees.

At the start of the pandemic, Invesco created a focus group to understand how we can better support working parents, many of whom found themselves juggling their workload in addition to homeschooling or additional childcare responsibilities. As a result of the insights gathered during this focus group, we introduced more flexibility for working parents.

In response, Invesco has introduced several new benefits and initiatives to promote the health and well-being of our employees—specifically caregivers and those who are experiencing social isolation.

In our EMEA region, we trained 51 mental health first-aiders. Participants received over 15 hours of training providing an in-depth understanding of mental health and the factors that can affect well-being, practical skills to spot the triggers and signs of mental health issues, strategies to step in and support a person in distress and knowledge of available resources so that they can offer confidential mental health support in their offices. Our EMEA region also offered online Mental Health Awareness modules to managers, offering training and resources to support mental health in a virtual environment. Globally, we also developed an email series that included mental health tips for all managers to share with their teams to promote dialogue on the topic.

With many employees working from their homes, we recognize that it is more difficult to step away from “the office.” Invesco initiated our InvescoUnplugged campaign, which encouraged employees to take their annual leave and paid time off, unplug from their work and be mindful of their mental health—even if this means doing so from home.