Every employee will exist somewhere on the mental health spectrum, from surviving to thriving. It’s normal for this to fluctuate over time too. However, evidence now suggests that there is a mental health epidemic happening. Many workers are experiencing symptoms of anxiety, stress, or depression, especially after the pandemic. It’s never been more important to prioritize the mental health of our workforce. With that in mind, here are the best to promote mental health and wellbeing in the workplace.
Look After Yourself
If you’re going to do the best possible job of looking after your team, you need to look after yourself first.
Think of this as like the oxygen mask rules when you fly. When you’re on a plane, the cabin crew will advise you to put your own oxygen mask on first, before you try to help anyone else. This could be seen as selfish, but it’s actually the opposite. If you didn’t put on your own oxygen mask first, you would run out of air quickly and be unable to help anyone else.
The same is true of mental health. If helping others always comes at the expense of your own mental health and physical wellbeing, you will eventually become exhausted, frustrated, and burned out.
Put on your oxygen mask first by setting aside a minimum of twenty minutes a day for self-care activities. You could read, exercise, call a friend, take a bath, or do whatever you like. You could take this time to do nothing at all too.
Lead From The Front
Employees will take cues from how their leaders behave. This means that employees in senior positions are important resources when it comes to highlighting the importance of mental health.
Leaders who open up about their own mental health have a huge impact on easing the load that other people may be experiencing. Leaders are just as likely as anyone to go through tough times. When this happens, the old style of leadership would have been to hide it, and not show weakness to your team.
By discussing their experiences openly with their team and being seen to make use of resources like wellness programs or an office chaplain (what is a chaplain?), leaders can help to create safe spaces where everyone feels comfortable to open up.
Pay Attention And Trust Your Instincts
Spotting the warning signs of a colleague struggling with their mental health can sometimes be tough, especially as more people are working remotely.
Keep in mind that if something doesn’t seem right with someone, it probably isn’t. You might notice they aren’t their usual self. Perhaps they’re snappy, quiet, or coming in late. There are plenty of signs of stress that you might pick up on.
If you think something isn’t right, now is the time to start the conversation. By being proactive about starting these conversations, you will make it more likely that team members will be able to approach you themselves when they’re struggling. There’s no substitute for demonstrating compassion and empathy throughout the conversation.
If you don’t feel able to approach someone yourself, but you have a mental health first aider, chaplain, or another professional or expert in the office, you could discreetly alert them about your concerns and ask them to check in with your employees instead. Even if you’re wrong and everything is fine, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Raise Awareness Around Mental Health
There’s a lot of stigma around talking about mental health in many workplaces. Employees are often reluctant to talk to their managers about any mental health issues they may be having.
You can break this stigma by encouraging discussion about mental health in the workplace. You could do this by:
- Embedding mental health training into your onboarding process
- Utilizing internal communication channels such as blog posts or staff newsletters to raise awareness
- Encouraging people at all levels to speak openly abut their mental health, if they are comfortable doing so
Raising awareness about mental health in these ways sends a clear message that support is available if anyone is struggling. It also shows that anyone who needs support won’t be penalized for accessing it, such as having their mental health used as a reason to pass them over for a promotion.
Keep The Conversation Going
We all have mental health all the time, so we need to talk about it. This means encouraging your employees to keep the mental health conversation going.
Lead the way by arranging regular one-to-one meetings with members of your team, during which you talk about their mental health.
Outside of meetings, check in on your employees and ask how they are. To be really effective, ask them twice. When asked, most people will say they are okay, even if they aren’t. By asking twice, you might uncover an issue that you might not have found otherwise.
By keeping the conversation going, you will be able to help staff to think more about their mental health, or that of their colleague, and reflect on the factors that affect this.
Know Where To Go For Further Support
Nobody is expecting you to be an expert on mental health and wellbeing, and you shouldn’t try to be. There will always be issues to deal with that are outside of your comfort zone, capabilities, and experience.
When this happens, it is important as a leader to know what your limits are, including when and where to signpost to other services that might be better equipped to help.
To make sure you’re well-prepared, find out what your company offers in relation to Employee Assitance Programmes, or other wellbeing initiatives, such as access to a counselor or chaplain, and communicate it clearly and regularly. As well as this, you might also want to suggest other resources, such as helplines and support guides outside of the organization. Make sure you recognize that you should also look beyond the guides you offer to charities and helplines.
Prioritize Work-Life Balance
The boundaries between work life and home life have become increasingly blurred as more and more people are working from home. This needs to be carefully monitored, as a poor work-life balance is a great way to end up stressed and burned out.
Take some proactive steps to keep your employees’ work-life balance as healthy as possible. You need to encourage your team to work sensible hours, make sure they are taking the full lunch break they are entitled to, and encourage them to avoid working at weekends.
You also need to set realistic work demands to make sure that your workers do not have extra work to do in their free time.
Use the SMART goals framework to guide work demands. This tool can be used to ensure the goals you set for your staff are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
Implement Mentally Healthy Workplace Practices
Boost your team’s mental wellbeing, by bringing in some simple healthy workplace practices.
For offices, you should encourage your team to take breaks from long periods of sitting, as this has been shown to improve mood and boost energy levels.
You could also encourage exercise and social events to boost the physical and mental well-being of your staff. Implementing practices like this highlights that you are dedicated to the well-being of your team.
Prioritize Confidentiality And Anonymity
It is very important that your workforce know that they can approach you about any issues that they might be having with the utmost confidentiality. This is a key element in promoting mental health at work, whether in-person or remotely.
A lot of employees feel worried that if they open up to their managers about their mental health concerns, the conversation will not stay private and could even have an impact on their careers. These worries will prevent them from discussing their experiences and often cause them to allow issues to worsen.
Make it clear to your staff that you will always take their privacy seriously, and that opening up to you about their mental health, or making use of mental health resources offered by the company, will never be tracked or used against them later on. Make sure this is actually true too.
Taking mental health seriously in the workplace can improve turnover rates, reduce sick leave, and make for happier, more productive employees. It’s well worth the time and investment. Prioritizing mental health in the workplace is not just about avoiding undesirable outcomes, it’s also about giving your employees the opportunity to be the best versions of themselves, both inside and outside of work. So, when you’re promoting mental health and wellbeing, make it clear to your employees that improving their mental well-being is not just about reducing stress or avoiding burnout. It’s also about performing well, feeling good, and thriving, both at the office and at home. Offer useful resources, make sure people know about them and have the option to access them discreetly, and make use of these resources yourself.
