For the majority of us, work is our life it is where we spend most of our time. And now more than ever staff are fighting mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression and stress.
According to recent research, 42% of global employees have experienced a decline in mental health since the pandemic began.
Uncertainty breeds anxiety. We still are and have been for the last 18 months been living in uncertain times. You can’t do this, you must do this, you could lose your job, not knowing what’s coming next. And that’s taking a toll on staff mental health, including home life.
Here are our top 5 tips for looking after staff mental health:
Create A Culture That Is Open And Supports Employees
Too often people feel like the elephant in the room when it comes to their mental health and talking openly about it. Your aim should be for your employees to never feel this way and create a culture that emulates that.
Organisations need to send a clear signal to staff that their mental health matters and being open about it will lead to support, not discrimination. A simple way to communicate this is to explain that mental health will be treated in the same way as physical health.
Companies can back this up by having a mental health strategy in place.
Help Colleagues Connect
Friends really do help make the world go around and this is true in our professional lives as well as at home. Building meaningful relationships at work means there are people on hand who care and can spot the signs of depression, anxiety and stress and perhaps provide a much-needed morale boost or advice.
Making connections could be as simple as arranging a face-to-face meeting instead of sending an email, arranging fun winter activities or going on lunch with someone new each week.
Encourage A Work/Life Balance
We spend most of our lives at work and balancing our busy work-life with families, hobbies and holidays can be stressful. Many of us can feel, particularly now technology means we’re more easily contactable than ever before.
We expect our employees to be focused and productive while at work but encouraging them to get their work-life balance right is crucial for them from potentially burning out.
Create a clear boundary between work and your personal life. Try not to let work spill over into your personal life. If you need to bring work home, designate a separate area for work and stick to it, you’ll find it much easier to then close the door on work.
Prioritising Wellbeing
Arguably the most important tip. Prioritising wellbeing demonstrates to the employee you care.
We’re wellbeing re-imagined. We’re Wellspace.
We believe in workplaces where everyone can thrive. We believe in the role of employers, employees, and businesses in creating open, happy communities.
Good mental health at work and good management go hand in hand and there is strong evidence that workplaces with high levels of mental wellbeing are more engaged and productive.
Prioritising wellbeing doesn’t just benefit the individual but also the employer. The ROI of investing in your staff mental health is tenfold. Long-term, you should see a reduction in costs related to health and presenteeism, the number of employee absences, the length of time employees are away from work, and the cost of sick pay.
Be The Leader You Needed
Remember a time when you was younger, you had a favourite teacher or sports coach or another significant figure. I’m hoping you’ve had one key figure who inspired you like no other. Think of their qualities or what you needed when you first started work or went to a new company and emulate them.
Here is a list of things I believe make a difference:
- Listening and engaging
- Practising prioritisation and patience
- Committing to open conversations and encouraging other leaders to do the same.
- Ask yourself: How can I make a positive difference to the company?
- Sharing what you’ve learnt from testing experiences with your team.
Get In Touch
Are you looking to bring your best team to work and send them home healthy? Then, Wellspace would be the perfect fit for your business.
Prioritise your staff mental health with our workplace app, portal and workshops. Contact one of our team today we’d love to meet you and understand your employee-wellness goals for the future!
