Mental Health in the Workplace

May is globally recognized as Mental Health Awareness Month. Unlike physical ailments of the body, it may be harder to recognize when our colleagues or employees are afflicted by mental malady.

Why should you care about mental health within the workplace?

Besides looking at it from a humanitarian perspective, it’s just good economic sense. Unhappy employees are less productive, take more time off, and make for an uneasy working environment.

In the UK, according to The Workplace Health Report 2022, poor mental health was cited as impacting productivity in 1 of every 5 employees.

Employees with a healthy and balanced mental health and mindset are active and willing participants in the growth of the business. Those who believe that they are working in a positive, inclusive, open, and trustworthy environment that values their contribution are overall happier employees.

Within this post, we’re providing tips to help you recognize when a member of staff is struggling to cope and ways to optimize your working environment to promote good mental health.

Ways to recognize when someone is dealing with mental health difficulties:

·  Increased or prolonged periods of sadness or irritability

·  Sudden or inexplicable changes in behavior

·  Inability to make decisions, where they could before

·  Excessive nervousness

·  Loss of interest in activities they previously enjoyed

·  Mistakes or errors in their work

How can you make the workplace an environment that promotes mental health? Here are some questions (and solutions) for you to consider:

1. Do your employees feel comfortable discussing their work challenges with you? For example, are your employees comfortable telling you that they have a lot on their plate or that they need help? Regularly checking in with your employees and colleagues about their well-being in the workplace, with a genuine interest in supporting a positive mindset or alleviating a negative outlook, can stimulate an optimistic mental health stance regarding their working environment.Do your employees feel heard?
2. Do you take into account the suggestions or the voice of the employees when making decisions that affect them? Failure to include them may lead to an increase in stress among the employees if they continually have to adapt to decisions that affect their ability to do their job effectively. Creating an anonymous suggestion box or survey can help you receive input from the employees- the key is to take their valid suggestions into consideration and have a conversation with those who best know their job and all it entails on how to improve the workplace.
3. Have you provided a satisfactory environment to work within? This includes providing the proper tools for the employees to complete their tasks, ensuring the safety risks are limited, and even providing resources and learning opportunities for growth.
4. Is your working environment strictly a “come do the job and go home” type of environment, or do you provide opportunities for socializing and recognition of achievement among staff? These could be in the form of team building events or outings, implementing award systems, or providing welcoming spaces for employees to take a break during the day.
5. Are you setting realistic obligations for your employees to achieve? With a target or a deadline, while they can promote productivity and focus, they can become detrimental to the mental health of an employee if you are setting your targets too high or deadlines too short. You run the risk of creating undue pressure and stress on your employees. As your business grows, you should assess where possible the existing workload of your employees to ascertain if it is manageable and make plans accordingly- such as whether or not to hire more help, implementing ways of streamlining systems or automating the processes where possible.

Ultimately, to promote an environment that encourages good mental health and positive mindsets, you should ensure that all employees feel valued, supported, heard, and safe, both from management and among their colleagues.