There were 822,000 workers who reported suffering from work-related stress, depression or anxiety in 2020/21. The rate of self-reported work-related mental health issues had already been increasing prior to the pandemic, and, unsurprisingly COVID-19 has made a bad situation even worse.
58% of employees have said they experience mild symptoms of anxiety, while 52% said they experienced mild symptoms of depression. 18% reported a current mental health diagnosis. What’s even more troubling is that even with so many workers struggling with mental health issues, 61% have never looked for support regarding this concern.
The Importance of Promoting Mental Health at Work
The mental health of workers plays a significant part in the workplace. 21% of employees have reported that having poor mental health affects their productivity at work. This directly impacts business, as performance and output drop, leading to a cascading series of consequences that can eventually hit the company’s bottom line.
So even if we take away the moral imperative that businesses have to look after their employees wellbeing, they also stand to gain financially by promoting mental health at work.
When the mental health struggles of workers are addressed, they are much less burdened to perform at the highest level. There’s less risk of absenteeism that can come from employees losing motivation or finding help outside the workplace. Staff retention will also be higher, reducing costs of having to constantly hire and train new employees.
Co-workers and managers will be more trusting of each other, leading to better work relations that can facilitate improvements in the operation. Employer reputation within their industry sector also grows in a positive direction, attracting more talent and making your company a place people want to work.
The law is another important aspect in promoting mental health in the workplace. There is the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and the Equality Act 2010 that work in tandem to protect employees with mental health issues. Companies cannot discriminate against such workers because of their disability, and they have to make reasonable adjustments to support these employees.
Tips on How to Promote Mental Health in the Workplace
Here are eight actionable tips that you can do to promote mental health in your workplace.
1. Establish Health and Safety Policies
The safety of a workplace contributes greatly to the overall health of your workforce, including both physical and mental health. Employees that feel unsafe at work are much less likely to be at their best, and the risk of them actually getting hurt adds to financial costs of the company.
Establishing clear health and safety policies that not only account for the physical wellbeing of employees, but also for their psychological wellbeing fosters a healthy work environment. With such policies in place, you can come up with processes that prevent and mitigate the onset of mental health stressors, quickly identify concerns, and provide support for those already struggling.
2. Start an Employee Assistance Programme
Employees that are currently going through a personal crisis can get help with an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP). An EAP is a workplace service that provides counselling to workers that are coping with a range of problems such as mental health issues, work-related stress, financial difficulties, concerns at home, etc.
If you have a licenced counsellor on staff, you can run the EAP through your organisation. You may also contract a third party to provide the counselling while you provide the infrastructure. Communicate to your workers that you have such a programme available that is wholly sponsored by the company so that they don’t have to pay any fees.
3. Provide In-Service Mental Health Training
You can’t expect your staff to be able to cover mental health issues and promote it positively without any training. There is a delicate balance to achieve when it comes to talking about mental health, addressing it, and raising awareness about it. Haphazard implementation may only end up hurting the initiative.
In-service training on topics such as self-care and stress management equips your entire organisation for handling mental health issues with confidence and consideration. Get colleagues to come together to learn about and workshop methods to deal with mental health issues under the guidance of a professional therapist.
4. Push for a Work / Life Balance
Employees that are dedicating all of their waking hours to your company may give a short-term boost, but the risk of them burning out and developing mental health issues is too heavy a cost in the long run. Take active steps to encourage your staff to pursue a healthy work/life balance, as they are ultimately more likely to work better for much longer when they aren’t constantly stressed.
The mass transition to remote work in the past couple of years has made it harder to achieve the right balance, with employees never being too far away from their work devices at home. Set and respect boundaries on when you contact workers, such as no checking emails on weekends. Offer more flexible schedules, and urge employees to go on holiday to avoid burnout.
5. Set Realistic Workloads
The most common cause of negative stress in the workplace is workload, with 76% of employees citing it as a source of their complaints. It shows a lack of understanding of just how much employees can actually accomplish on the part of the companies, given the ubiquity of this problem.
Your organisation can get ahead of the competition by giving your employees the right amount of work they can handle within reasonable timelines. No more, no less. It takes knowing the capabilities and limitations of your staff, but it’s an effort worth doing.
6. Incentivise Wellness
The mind and body work together as one. If your employees are eating healthy, exercising, and sleeping well, they are more likely to have better mental wellbeing in the workplace. Promoting overall wellness promotes mental health.
If you have a cafeteria in the workplace, offer healthy food options such as fruits and vegetables. Partner with a gym to subsidise memberships for employees. You can incentivise workers to join wellness programmes with perks like gift cards, rebates, or even extra leaves.
7. Give Time for Mental Health Recovery
There is no guarantee that you can prevent all cases of mental health struggles, even with the best policies in place. There will be times when employees will just have to step away from work to recover from having an episode. As the employer, you should give workers ample time to recharge and recentre themselves.
Employees may have no problem with taking time off to attend to physical and financial matters, but the idea of taking a mental health day might be out of the question for them. Let them know that you support them taking paid leave to go to therapy, and that they won’t face any repercussions for doing so.
8. Embrace Open Discussions while Keeping Confidentiality
Years and years of stigmatising mental health have meant discussing it openly can still be a challenge for many, especially in the context of the workplace, where they don’t want to feel like a burden and slow operations down. There’s also the fear that disclosing one’s mental health issues would become an obstacle to promotion, or worse case, lead to unemployment.
As a leader in your organisation, you can be an example when you are willing to talk about your own mental health concerns. You can also show that it’s safe to engage in the topic, and that you are willing to foster a welcoming and supportive atmosphere at work.
An important consideration to keep in mind, however, is that openness does not mean everyone should be privy to everyone else’s mental health issues. Employees’ privacy must be respected. Communicate to your staff that if they do reach out for support, their personal problems will be treated with complete confidentiality.
Equip Your Employees for Mental Health
As a fundamental space in people’s daily lives and a crucial factor to their wellbeing, the workplace is integral to the wider acceptance of mental health management. As part of their health and safety policies, employers must take on the responsibility of providing a reliable support system for their employees regarding mental health. It’s just as important as their physical wellbeing when it comes to preventing harm and improving performance.
Get started on promoting mental health at work when you partner with The Health & Safety Dept. We offer mental health first aid training to identify, assess, and respond to signs of mental health issues at work. Contact us today for more information.
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