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I am genuinely certain you have consumed lots of pieces about Mental Health At Work Initiatives. They are definitely fashionable with bloggers and readers alike.

Many people still feel uncomfortable talking about mental health at work. It’s personal and often a sensitive issue which people may not feel confident in talking openly about. When their hard work, dedication and teamwork are appreciated, your employees’ feel more fulfilled and satisfied in their jobs. In addition, employee recognition positively affects productivity and creates a culture of appreciation. Overall, employee recognition has a power to inspire your employees and make them realize what a crucial part of your company they are. The scale of poor mental health in the population is significant, but it is very often preventable and recovery is possible for many people. When someone is struggling with their mental health or has a diagnosed mental health condition that can have “flare-ups” or consistent symptoms like other chronic physical illnesses, this can sometimes impact how we show up, how we feel about, and do, our work. In an interview for the Washington Post, Stephanie Preston, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan who specializes in empathy, altruism and the way emotions affect behavior, hit the nail on the head when she highlighted some of the extrinsic reasons people may jump on the toxic positivity train at work: “It’s an attractive behavior in people that makes them seem more well adapted and more popular with their peers, so there are a lot of reasons people want to seem or be positive.” According to the Partnership for Workplace Mental Health, 70% of the workforce suffers from depression — and not all of them are aware of their condition. Nevertheless, only 15% of employers train managers on how to recognize depression and intervene to help with employee care.

Organisations should produce, implement and communicate a mental health at work plan and develop mental health awareness among employees. Open conversations about mental health should be encouraged and support should be available when employees are struggling. Employees should have good working conditions, effective people management should be promoted and employee mental health and wellbeing should be routinely monitored. The UK has made significant progress in opening up conversations around mental health and wellbeing and in attempting to reduce the stigma it invokes. However, this progress appears to be occurring at a slower rate in the workplace, compared to conversations occurring in public spaces more generally. Employers should adopt the principles of the HSE Stress Management Standards for employees or groups of employees that it is felt may be affected by stress. An EAP is a benefit programme intended to help employees deal with personal problems that might adversely impact their job performance, health, and wellbeing. This includes issues such as relationship problems, money worries and other pressures. Support is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by telephone, although increasingly EAP providers are also providing their services through the internet. Communication that emphasizes that leadership cares about concepts such as managing employees with mental health issues should be welcomed in the working environment.

Psychological & Social Support

Most employers will have policies and procedures in place for performance management, but where there are suspected or known health issues, these should also be explored, prior to any formal processes. If the root causes of poor performance are not addressed, any solutions are unlikely to fully resolve the issue, so problems can spiral into sickness absence. Mental wellness cannot be packaged into five neat containers and presented to a workforce of 500+ people who are all battling different stressors. It’s not always about people having an “off day” at work. According to a Mental Health America survey, 85 percent of workers say the workplace negatively impacts their mental state. What we find is that those who aren’t experiencing symptoms or situations that need clinical treatment are falling through the gaps of access to care. Sometimes people find it easier to speak to people who are not their managers. Peer supporters would allow staff to support one another outside of the line management structure. This would allow someone the safe space to discuss any issues they are feeling about their mental health. We may be trying our best to look after ourselves, doing all the right things, but we still find we are struggling. If we are experiencing one of the common mental health difficulties such as anxiety or depression, this can lead to altered thinking, different energy and motivation levels, which all make it harder to do what we need to do to keep well or function effectively. Supporting mental health at work is a long game with results that will last for a long time. It’s a culture shift in the office which can be scary, but it’s something that’s necessary to humanize your employees and make them feel like they’re a part of something they want to be a part of. Don't forget to send out proper internal communications around how to manage an employee with anxiety in your organisation.

Frameworks such as Health and Safety Executive management standards for work-related stress can promote and protect employee mental wellbeing in an organisation. Developing a plan to deal with mental health in the workplace is vital, both a specific plan to help an individual employee and a more overarching plan on how you deal with mental health in general. Let’s use this opportunity to create the mentally healthy workplace cultures that should have existed all along. Regular emotional exhaustion is often the result of overstretching oneself in both work and life: trying to juggle too many things at once. Its common symptoms include extreme tiredness, irritability, a lack of concentration and a lack of interest in everyday activities. Good employees are worth investing in; take care of your team. After all, happy and healthy employees are productive employees. Subjects such as workplace wellbeing ideas can be tackled by getting the appropriate support in place.

Mental Health Disorders

Healthy Minds is the name of American Express’ mental health in the workplace program. Healthy Minds shows how psychology can improve an employee’s well-being and performance. The program provides part-time counselors at each employee clinic. They also have a professional clinical psychologist to provide support to employees. We will all be affected at some stage of our lives by mental ill health—either personally, or in our families or our workplaces. There will be people in our workplaces who are successfully managing anxiety or depression or less prevalent mental health conditions. We need to overcome stigma, prevent marginalisation and provide flexibility to overcome barriers to making a full contribution in work. External triggers may have an effect on an employee’s mental health and well-being, such as experiencing discrimination and/or stigma, social disadvantage, poverty or debt. We know that stigma is a powerful barrier to getting help. 60% of people with a mental health problem or illness won’t seek help because of their fear of being labeled. 52% of those with a mental health disability consider themselves disadvantaged in employment. When people suffer from stress, burnout, and mental health problems, it is more than personal trauma as your workplace experiences loss and your business setbacks. At the same time, investing in mental wellness proactively means gains and more than only financially. Let's observe other benefits. Organisations can make sure their employee benefits package provides support for workplace wellbeing support today.

Mental wellbeing at work is determined by the interaction between the working environment, the nature of the work and the individual. When mental illness isn't addressed, it's got costs for both the person and their workplace. Work stress, including mental stress, increases absenteeism, reduces productivity, and drives up indemnities and healthcare costs. Mental health can fluctuate along a spectrum in the same way that physical health does and there may be times when it is better than others. If we spend our time worrying about emails we need to send, a project that needs finessing, or the results our boss is expecting, these blessings can become a source of stress. And that means our quality time with the people who matter is impacted, not only by our stress, but our distractedness. There’s a number of factors that can contribute to poor mental health in the workplace, most of which only lead to further stress if left unaddressed. These can include not getting along with colleagues, unnecessary pressure and intense deadlines. Discussing ideas such as employers duty of care mental health is good for the staff and the organisation as a whole.

Modify Policies And Practices

Although understanding of mental health issues is growing, misconceptions still remain – especially in the workplace. Once thought of as something that happened to an unfortunate few, one in four people are now affected by mental health issues, and employers need to be able to spot the signs. If not, problems may only come to light later on when more serious interventions are necessary. It’s apparent that when employees are given some flexibility over personalising their work environment, they’re happier and this research from the University of Exeter suggests they might be up to 32% more productive too. It’s a way to express personality and affirm shared identify. 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. Find further information appertaining to Mental Health At Work Initiatives on this World Health Organisation link.

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