Ways To Encourage Mental Health In The Workplace
A person's mind is their biggest asset. Good mental health is essential as it can affect your body in ways that even science has yet to discern. According to research, nearly 1 in every five adults has a mental illness. It can surface as a headache, anxiety, or an overwhelming feeling. Poor mental health can lead to other physical health conditions, including BP, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.
Mental illness also affects the performance and productivity of the employee, which in turn affects the entire company's productivity. A mentally unhealthy employee can also have difficulty communicating with others, have difficulty concentrating and daily functioning, might need more sick leave than others, and have brain fog.
A few ways to embrace mental health in the workplace are:
1. Communication is the key. This can be encouraged by establishing structures where employees are given open communication opportunities.
2. Complete transparency with each of its employees and no conformance to hierarchy.
3. Help individuals or groups of employees set goals that are not confined to their job. This helps create a purpose for the employees to strive towards. This helps them stay motivated and productive.
4. Implement tools that help employees self-assess their mental health.
5. Offer free or subsidized screenings for depression and anxiety from a qualified professional.
6. Dedicated time to dispelling stress by playing games or having cookouts or anything that is fun.
7. Even your diet affects your mental health. One can ensure their employees are taking good care of their health by either organizing health workshops or collaborating with good nutritional companies to have regular health checkups.
8. Host seminars or workshops that address mental illness management techniques, like mindfulness, breathing exercises, and meditation, to help employees reduce anxiety and stress and improve focus and motivation.
9. Having a 5 day work week and a good work-life balance is very important.
10. Organize workshops or seminars that help employees take their health into their own hands and get tools that make them self-sustainable in the longer run.
11. Collaborate with a Functional Nutrition company or other wellness organizations. They can either offer monthly sessions or create plans and programs that help your employees be mindful, healthy, and stress free.
12. Organizing monthly challenges or competitions to build good teamwork.
13. Putting Work from Home policies in place.
Of course, using willpower and positive thinking alone won't help with a lot of mental health difficulties. There is also another issue that may arise with positive thinking - toxic positivity. This means disregarding the negative feeling someone might have and showering them with false assurances. Telling someone whatever happens for good can have a negative effect. Just listening to an employee's woes without offering them false empathy can also help. Or giving them a safe space to share their feelings goes a long way. Regardless of their ability to seek professional help, every employee deserves compassion and decency.
Within the company, human resources have a special chance to influence employee mental health. A strong benefits package with proper healthcare and other advantages like personnel discounts that boost mental fitness are common examples of how culture influences everything else. This is especially true when it comes to workplace benefits.
