Mental health in the workplace refers to employees psychological, emotional, and social well-being within a shared workplace.

In addition to the financial benefits, your job can add meaning, structure, and purpose to your life.

To cope up with a toxic workplace, ease the stress of remote working, and improve your work-life balance by addressing mental health issues in the workplace.

What is mental health?

You can have poor mental health without having an illness and likewise, you can have good mental health with a mental illness.

We believe that mental health and human performance are not two separate pursuits but rather two parts of the same equation combined, that what makes human flourish.

Stress at work has an effect of your mental health. Thus, this issue is affecting your performance at work.  Employee’s mental health must be a top priority for businesses looking to hire high-performing employees.

Impact of Poor Employee Mental Health in the Workplace

Lost productivity, absenteeism, having to recruit and train employees due to high turnover, and even higher health insurance costs are all potentially related to poor employee mental health.

Below are the impacts of mental health issues in business operations:

• Revenue decreased (40%)
• Profitability decreased (39%)
• Loss of customers (30%)
• Diminished output (26%)
• Reduced competitiveness (20%)

Given that mental health can have an impact on finances, productivity, and turnover, supervisors considered mental health when making business decisions.

Over 35% of supervisors say they were extremely likely to consider their employees’ mental health when making decisions, with female supervisors being more likely than their male counterparts to do so.

Importance of Discussing Workplace Mental Health

As we mentioned, healthy does not just cover physical health but also mental health too.

Here are just some of the benefits of raising awareness about mental health at work:

• Increase productivity and performance
• Increase employee engagement
• Improve internal communication
• Reduce workplace hostility
• Reduce absenteeism and physical illnesses

Ways to promote mental health in the workplace

When it comes promoting well-being at work, creating proactive options that help people improve and maintain their mental health day-to-day is key to helping employees flourish.

Both employer and employee can promote mental well-being at work by following some proactive options below.

Equip management a help to offer

Managers should have opportunities to attend training that will give you the skills to support those who have mental illnesses in the workplace. That training should include the knowledge that not all employees’ mental illnesses can be treated the same way, and managers need to approach each employee as an individual.

Give employees tools

Most employees keep an important mental health tool in their pocket like smartphone. There are many mental health apps that employers can provide to those who work for them that will support habits such as meditation and breathing exercises as well as provide tips for getting better sleep and increasing focus and creativity.

Help prevent burnout

When an employee has emotional, physical and mental exhaustion caused by “excessive and prolonged stress, ” they are likely to be overwhelmed and unable to meet the demands of their job.

To be assigned in an unchallenging work or an environment that is high-pressure or chaotic can be the reason of exhaustions at work.

As an employer we should minimise these situations to help prevent employee burnout. 

Offer work benefits.

We can help workers feel less stressed about their health and their financial future through acquiring affordable health insurance, retirement plan, and any programs specifically dedicated in supporting employee mental health.

Check-ins with supervisors.

 A regular meeting can give supervisors the opportunity to gauge how the employee is feeling. Discussions include issues faced by the employee, problem solutions, and career pathing to keep the employee engaged working towards goals.

Promote good mental health practices

Managers and employees who are educated on how mental health issues can affect the workplace will be better prepared to offer help, follow wise protocol and avoid developing stigmatizing prejudices.

Focus on stress management, not stigmatisation

Stress can manifest in many different ways, so it is important not to jump to conclusions about someone’s mental health in the workplace.

It is best to start with an improvest conversation without making assumptions or labeling the behaviour. It is important to be direct and upfront.

Be specific to the point.

Create a Healthy Workplace/Culture of Trust

When you have a strong company culture, you will foster an atmosphere of grace and mutual trust within your business that will reinforce the importance of mental health awareness and acceptance.

We all face difficult times in life and could encounter mental health concerns at any time. Make sure that our employees receive the proper support they need at work.

Consider Employee Feedback

If you are hesitant on how to address employee mental health in your organisation, let employee feedback guide your initiatives.  While gaining insight from employees, try to determine whether stress develop at workplace could be from managers treatment, a policy that affect working conditions, or an excessive workload.