Things are heavy right now. And those of us that work in social media are being assaulted with images we never wanted to see. It’s changing who we are and what we do. So it is vitally important that you are checking on your social media manager right now.

Look, we are all seeing this, but for social media managers, they can’t get away from it all. To be able to do their job effectively, they have to dive in and then dive in again.

The worst thing that can happen for your brand is to have a social media manager who is numb, angry or just completely burnt out. This can lead to a mistake that you can spend months, even years, digging out of. So giving them support early and often is not only investing in your employee but also your brand.

Check-ins with your social media manager

Quick weekly check-ins can be huge in this case. They don’t have to be formal and on the schedule (but consider putting reminders on your schedule). I think they mean more when they’re informal, because it feels like you are checking in on the person and not necessarily the work. But this may be a me thing.

What is helpful to include during these check-ins? I think it varies person-to-person and situation-to-situation. I would keep it brief and just enough to get an idea of how they are doing. It could be as simple as asking how they are doing and if there is anything they need help with. Keeping it as open-ended as possible will give you the chance to read between the lines, if needed, as well as give you the chance to get a real answer.

But don’t prod too hard. If your social media manager doesn’t want to get personal with their boss or client, that is absolutely fair. They may still appreciate the check-ins though.

Give real time off

I always say that maintaining my mental health is a part of my job as a consultant. But if your social media manager is an employee, I think you have at least some responsibility to make sure that they are taking care of their mental health.

Encourage your social media manager to take the time off they have earned and make sure those days off are really days off. Just because they may be reachable does not mean you should reach out to them for every little problem when they are taking a personal day. That personal day could be the difference between a complete burnout and their ability to work. So allowing them to really take it off can help keep them around as an effective social media manager.

And on top of that, make sure you have someone who is trained on the social media plan as a backup for your social media manager. Honestly, even if they’re taking time off, they are likely checking in because they don’t trust the person who has been designated as their backup. Simply knowing that the person knows what they’re doing and won’t go off-plan is enough to help them really take that time off.

Don’t “self-care” the problem away

I think some really well meaning bosses offer things like massages, facials and other self-care bonuses and think that’s enough. It’s a bandaid at best and won’t provide the long-term help your employee likely needs.

Get to know their specific needs. Find out what really recharges them and what doesn’t work for them at all.

I once sent an email to all of my friends with a questionnaire about what to do when they’re going through a bad time and more importantly, what not to do. Only one person replied back with it completed. It will never not surprise me how much people don’t want to plan for those bad times, but it is what it is.

This is one of those times where your employees may not want to plan for those bad times, so share with them about how you want to make sure you are providing the proper support instead of putting a bandaid on any problems. Then leave it in their hands. You can offer support, but you can’t make people take it.

Trust your social media manager

But for real, don’t push. No one knows how to take care of themselves better than your social media manager.

For example, what recharges me more than anything is helping someone on social media. But since that’s technically work, it could look like I’m not taking care of myself when I really am.

So if you have offered all of the support you possibly can and your social media manager is not responding to it, you have to trust that they know what they need better than you do. And keep up those check-ins just in case. You never know when they may change their mind.

How are you supporting your social media manager?