3 Ways to Prioritize Employee Mental Health and Well Being
Navigating employee mental health and why it is critical to support for your business to thrive.
Recognizing the critical role of employee well-being in your business growth and success has become increasingly obvious in our post-pandemic world. If your business is running on burnt-out employees with a negative work culture and unhealthy work-life balance, your business can’t be doing well — especially not long term. Prioritizing employee wellness by acknowledging the needs that need to be met, providing resources and access to them, and ensuring initiatives are implemented will result in not only setting up your employees to be well but your business too.
1. Understand the Needs of Your Employees
Each company, industry, and employee will have different needs and specific aspects to take into consideration. Do your employees have to travel a lot? Is there a significant amount of offsite meetings? Could your employees work from home? Is the work that you are doing stressful, and does it take a toll on your mental health? By first understanding the struggles of your workforce, you will be able to move ahead more strategically, and ultimately be the most helpful to your employees.
A way to assess the needs and wants of your employees is by asking for feedback. Anonymous surveys, check-in meetings, and an open-door policy will allow employees to approach HR or management with their issues and concerns. Take note of the amount of sick days or personal days that are being used, and whether employees feel comfortable using their full vacation allowance.
The goal here is to reduce the stigma of mental health by promoting empathy, being open to concerns, and increasing the overall awareness of stress levels and the company culture you are creating.
2. Provide Resources and Flexibility
The next step is to provide the resources and assistance your employees are looking for or require. This may include an update to time off policies, a wellness allowance, company-funded resources like mindfulness apps, stress management workshops, online mental health resources, or maybe even a company membership to a gym or yoga studio nearby! I’m sure you haven’t forgotten about the ultimate flexibility, which would be a working-from-home option or a compressed work week. There are countless ways you can help your employees feel taken care of, and ensure they are bringing their best to work each day. Think about this as an employee engagement exercise or team bonding event, which not only contributes to overall health but also fosters social connections and a sense of community within the workplace. There are some incredible apps available that can be used company-wide, such as Headspace, a powerful app that offers several options of meditations, and general well-being reminders.
These steps may initially appear ambitious, or unnecessary, but their long-term benefits cannot be overstated. By implementing these strategies, you can ensure your employees feel valued and well taken care of, leading to a boost in creativity, heightened loyalty, and a stronger overall commitment to your company. Investing in employee well-being is an investment in the success and prosperity of your organization.
3. Sustaining the Initiatives Long Term
To ensure the long-term success of well-being initiatives, managers must lead by example and prioritize a healthy work-life balance while incorporating these resources into their own lives. This involves respecting employees’ personal time and not intruding on it unless absolutely necessary and encouraging team members to do the same. True leaders show their teams they have their back, standing on the front lines to fight for them and working diligently to lift them together through victories and setbacks.
I’ve mentioned before how much I love an employee handbook! You can insist these resources and practices that prioritize mental health are here to stay by getting them in writing from each employee’s first day. Be clear to managers, your employees, and yourself, how important time off is, make sure each employee knows how to access help if they need it, and that your initiatives aren’t getting lost as they trickle down through the organization.