I recently listened to a speaker about the significance of Mental Health In The Workplace Approaches and would like to share what I discerned from it with you in this article.
Mental health is critical for an engaged, productive, and effective workplace. As an employer or manager, you can take steps to be more accepting, understanding, and supportive of those who've got mental health issues. Nearly half of workers under 40 say they feel stressed or anxious all or most of the time. All. Of. The. Time. Not just at work, but in their everyday lives. So it comes as no surprise the vast majority of those workers seek out a workplace with mental health benefits in place, according to the American Institute of Stress. Ideally employers should approach stress management proactively, focusing on prevention and early intervention, and not just responding when a problem becomes significant or when someone goes on sick leave. Mental health is something we all have. When we enjoy good mental health, we have a sense of purpose and direction, the energy to do the things we want to do, and the ability to deal with the challenges that happen in our lives. Putting workplace support in place for mental health early to deal with any issues could prevent the problem escalating and having a larger impact on both the individual and the team. What can employers do to address the mental health action gap and support employees? Supporting employees’ mental health centres on five elements: developing a mental health strategy; building a psychologically healthy and safe workplace culture; providing robust communications; ensuring adequate resources; and preparing for hybrid work.
Leadership stoicism is a dangerous trend and unhelpful in the effort to create open workplace cultures. It is a strength for leaders to show vulnerability and courage as a role model in discussing mental health. Various aspects of work and the workplace can cause substantial disadvantages for people with disabilities. When this happens the Equality Act 2010 says that employers must take reasonable steps to remove the disadvantage. The purpose of the law is to place a duty on employers to address the disadvantages encountered at work by people with disabilities, and the starting point for any consideration of reasonable adjustments should be what difficulties someone is experiencing in the workplace. Wellbeing should be at the core of our thinking about work and the workplace for the future. Mental health and mental illness cannot be compartmentalized, and therefore are workplace issues. An opinion on managing employees with mental health issues is undoubtebly to be had in every workplace in the country.
Creating A Mentally Healthy Workplace
Work is an important element of the recovery model. Employment should be considered a key outcome at every level of the mental health system and included in people’s care plans as they move along the pathway to recovery. We’re now finding ourselves working in an era of hyper-connectivity, continuous change and disruption. Never before have humans had to adapt and manage our energy to both conserve our resources to prevent burnout but to also develop strategies to help us navigate this complexity to be at our best. Being mentally healthy doesn’t just mean that you don’t have a mental health problem, according to the Mental Health Foundation. It says that those who are in good mental heath are able to make the most of their potential, cope with life and play a full part in their family, workplace, community and among friends. The human cost of poor mental health is huge, with poor mental health having an impact on the lives of many individuals and those around them. This manifests itself in a variety of ways both at work and at home, and impacts a person’s ability to manage other elements of their personal life. Starting workplace conversations about behavioral health is challenging. Such conditions are often seen as a personal failing rather than a medical condition. Thinking about concepts such as employers duty of care mental health is really helpful in a workplace environment.Typically, when it comes to mental health problems, reasonable adjustments are small, inexpensive changes, such as more regular catch-ups with managers, a change of workspace, working hours, or breaks. If someone struggled with anxiety as a result of commuting in peak times, a reasonable adjustment could be that they start and finish work earlier or later, to avoid rush hour. Anyone can become upset and reveal to their workmates that they are human. But if you have a mental health problem you may have a particular need for a safe space to express your feelings. If you are going through a mental health crisis, whether or not it’s caused by work stress, it is likely to have an impact on you at work. It’s much easier to support employees at an earlier stage than wait until they reach crisis point. Effectively supporting employees with mental health problems means businesses can employ, retain and get the best from them. It is important to create a culture in every business that promotes positive mental health and helps prevent people from experiencing mental ill health or helps them better manage mental health problems. If you’re nervous or uncomfortable about talking about mental health, that’s normal and absolutely ok. Talking about mental health at work, especially when in a leadership position, takes courage and vulnerability. Organisations can make sure their employee benefits package provides support for workplace wellbeing ideas today.
Normalizing Topics Around Employee Mental Health
Many people experience stress in the workplace. Stress is not in itself a mental health difficulty but prolonged exposure to stressful situations can lead to physical and mental health problems, including burnout. Employees are more vulnerable to the negative impact of stress inside and outside of the workplace if they have not built strong positive relationships at work. Voluntary health assessments can help employers better understand the mental health needs of their workforce by detecting symptoms of mental health disorders, such as depression and anxiety, and by measuring individual risk and assessing factors like stress. There needs to be mental health provisions that can support any individual and any organization of any size. Although awareness of mental health has increased, research highlights that this topic, which affects every one of us, is still not being discussed or supported enough in organizations. If a colleague confides in you about what’s going on with them, showing vulnerability, you may feel that it’s now your sole responsibility to help them (especially for those of you who are natural carers and fixers). This is not true, and a responsibility you shouldn’t shoulder alone. Even though it may not be easy to become an employee-centric company addressing how to manage an employee with anxiety it is of utmost importance in this day and age.Management should promote a company culture that encourages openness and acceptance. Employees who feel safe and supported will be more engaged and more likely to seek out the support they need. Mental health implies fitness rather than freedom from illness. When we understand that our mental health fluctuates, just as our physical health, this presents an opportunity to look at managing our mental health — maintaining, sustaining, and nurturing our mental state. Putting things in place to reduce stress has business-benefits, too. Managing workplace-stress been shown to boost productivity, boost performance, minimise conflict and - ultimately - build a happier and healthier workforce. Even in the most positive workplaces, a certain amount of stress is inevitable—but many employees just aren’t very successful at managing it. Instead, they become overwhelmed, unproductive, and anxious. When left unaddressed, this workplace stress can quickly lead to burnout and create health issues. To incorporate mental health into the workplace organisations should be ensuring that managers are able to motivate employees and provide them with the training and support they need to develop their performance and job satisfaction. This should be done alongside increasing understanding of how management style and practices can help to promote the mental wellbeing of employees and keep their stress to a minimum. Subjects such as workplace wellbeing support can be tackled by getting the appropriate support in place.
Work-life Balance
It is also important that you set realistic work demands, to ensure that your workers do not have extra work to do after hours. You can guide your work demands using the SMART Goals framework; a tool that can be used to ensure the goals you set are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. Sometimes there is a direct cause for a mental health problem, such as a life event, relationship issues, worries about finances or unemployment. A cause can also be problems within the workplace, like too high workload, a shortage of support or a conflict with colleagues or manager. Sometimes there is no clear reason. However, with support, most people recover. Mental ill health can affect all aspects of the workplace. If members of staff are suffering, the knock-on effect is that employers are losing valuable working days from even more valuable employees. As it stands, mental illness represents up to 23% of the total burden of ill health in the UK, making it the largest single cause of illness. A Mental Health and Work document commissioned by the cross-government Health Work and Wellbeing Programme reviews health-related factors that influence working life in Great Britain. Check out more intel on the topic of Mental Health In The Workplace Approaches on this Health and Safety Executive entry.