Mental health and well-being are growing concerns for businesses. People are more aware of how work and emotional well-being affect each other but may still have difficulty maintaining or improving their mental health. Here are six ways you can improve employee mental health in your business workplace.
1. Develop Concrete, Streamlined Strategies and Objectives
Every strategy your business develops, from your sales plan to cybersecurity measures, should be streamlined, easy to understand, and include all necessary information. If your employees can quickly and easily check your business strategies and objectives whenever they need to, they will have more success and feel more comfortable doing their jobs. You should alert employees as soon as possible after making changes to any strategies.
2. Make All Necessary Documentation Readily Available for Employees
Not only do your business objectives need to be easy to understand, but any documentation your employees may need to do their jobs should be easily accessible. If employees can’t find the information they need to complete a task, they may become frustrated or discouraged. Many modern businesses place their process documentation in centralized on-premise or cloud databases that all employees can access. If you have sensitive documentation you need to safeguard, look into access controls such as network segmentation.
3. Train Managers To Support Employee Mental Health
A manager’s role is to support team members. While the traditional meaning of this role is to make sure employees can successfully do their jobs, in a modern business setting, managers also need to be aware of employees’ mental health and emotional needs. They must also be able to provide the support employees need. Not everyone can do that without training. You can implement a training program to ensure managers are prepared to serve in this capacity.
4. Offer Healthcare Plans and Other Benefits that Prioritize Employee Mental Health
Traditionally, mental health services haven’t been prioritized in benefits programs. This is changing. The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act requires health insurers to provide coverage for mental health, behavioral health, and substance use disorders that is comparable to physical health coverage. Check what kinds of mental health services your current insurance provider covers. You might be able to expand coverage by choosing a plan with out-of-network mental health benefits so employees can access out-of-network providers. And if you don’t already have one, consider adding an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) that provides assessment and services to address personal problems and concerns that interfere with employees’ well-being and workplace performance. EAPs may provide information and resources on mental health and issues such as substance use, emotional distress, interpersonal relationships, legal problems, and financial stress.
5. Increase Workplace Flexibility for Employees
People have busy lives, but you can help your employees develop a better work-life balance by increasing options for workplace flexibility. A modern workplace should be able to offer flexible hours, multiple options for taking time off, and assistance for employees working remotely or while traveling. Companies may implement flex time programs so employees can schedule appointments for personal care more easily. To help people at different life stages or who are dealing with serious problems such as health issues, a company may introduce additional paid time-off programs specific to those situations. Invest in remote work infrastructure such as laptops, VPNs, and mobile hotspots so employees can work from home or on the go.
6. Encourage Employees To Focus on Their Mental Health Throughout Their Work Days
Make sure employees are aware of their own mental health needs and habits. Find ways to encourage them to focus on their mental health, determine what they need and seek resources. You can create resource groups for employees to learn about mental health topics and services. Create a newsletter or tipsheet with mental health information employees can use in their daily lives, such as practicing mindfulness, having difficult conversations, focusing on strengths and goals, staying hydrated, and exercising.
Businesses need to prioritize employee mental health. When employees don’t feel supported psychologically and emotionally, they are at higher risk of burnout, depression, anxiety, and other types of distress. These conditions can greatly affect employees’ productivity and passion for work. A mentally healthy workforce tends to be happier and more productive.
About the Author: Carol Evenson is a loving mother of three, an aspiring writer, and a social activist. She enjoys educating and learning and loves sharing her knowledge with her family and friends.
The opinions and views expressed in any guest blog post do not necessarily reflect those of www.rtor.org or its sponsor, Laurel House, Inc. The author and www.rtor.org have no affiliations with any products or services mentioned in the article or linked to therein. Guest Authors may have affiliations to products mentioned or linked to in their author bios.
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