Why Should Managers Care About Mental Health in the Workplace?

Reasons Why We Can’t Neglect Mental Health in the Workplace Anymore

Proper mental health in the workplace refers to the state where each employee realizes their full potential. The concept of ensuring good mental health in the workplace is not new. Businesses have invested fairly and tried several methods to ensure their employees are happy and in a positive state of mind. With a sound state of mind, employees have the ability to cope with difficulties and make meaningful contributions that they are proud of.

Factors Affecting Employee Mental Health

Before managers turn their attention to methods and practices to improve mental health in the workplace, they must understand the key underlying factors. There are several factors contributing to the state of employee’s mental health. Some of them are discussed below.

Workplace Culture

Workplace culture is one of the primary factors impacting mental health in the workplace. In a culture where respect and honesty prevail, employees have a positive outlook on their work and future. Meanwhile, a workplace that supports healthy competition and mutual support will catalyse the growth and development of all employees.

Workload

It is self-evident that workload is going to be one of the key factors affecting mental health in the workplace. Therefore, managers should be well aware of the workload assigned to each of the employees. After all, a heavy load might damage the work-life balance which ultimately leads to degraded mental health. On the other hand, people might develop self-doubt if the work being given is not up to their standards and talents.

Compensation

Proper compensation for the work done is always a determining factor of mental health in the workplace. If your employees are always worried about paying their bills, you cannot extract their full potential. Likewise, respectable compensation is always necessary for a healthy company-workers relationship. Furthermore, your competitors might swipe away your best performers if you do not give what they deserve.

Engagement and Recognition

In a large company building complex systems or offering complex services, employees might get confused about their contributions. This is because hundreds of people are working on small pieces of a large puzzle. It is up to the employers to help employees recognize their contributions. Likewise, proper engagement is crucial to maintain a strong level of motivation. Most importantly, they must feel that working with you is also contributing to their own growth and development.

Why Must Mental Health Be the Manager’s Top Priority?

Since the early days of 2020, we have been hit by one of the worst disasters in human history. The coronavirus pandemic has put a full stop on normal life. Likewise, it has caused the deaths of millions of people. The decline in mental well-being is rapid and it is set to create an even greater loss of money. For employers, working for better mental health in the workplace is compulsory and time is running out. The following are the major reasons why employers must act right now to safeguard mental health in the workplace.

Troubling Times

In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, mental health has taken a serious toll among millions of people worldwide. There is great fear about the devastation caused by the pandemic. Millions of people have been facing the trauma of losing their loved ones. For those working from home, there is a loss of human touch and interaction. Likewise, for those working on the frontline, there is a fear of contracting the disease. We have already seen the severe toll on the mental health of healthcare workers like doctors and nurses.

Furthermore, as the economy spiralled downwards in the wake of the pandemic, millions of businesses were hit. Many of them went bankrupt and even large organizations had to cut down on their employees. Even for those who still have a job, there’s growing uncertainty about the future and a fear of being made redundant.

Saves Time and Money

It is a well-known fact that companies are losing money because of the problems in mental health in the workplace. It is estimated that more than 300 million people suffer from mental illnesses like anxiety and depression. Similarly, this is also a reason for growing substance abuse. This leads to a loss of over 1 trillion dollars in terms of productivity.

Affects Image of the Company

The consequences of avoiding mental health in the workplace go way beyond productivity and output. How you treat your employees and how much you care is also a major factor contributing to your brand image. If you are a notorious employer, you cannot hire top talents and you might even lose customers.

How Managers Can Act Quickly?

Now that we have understood the financial implications of ignoring mental health, let us discuss how managers can quickly get in the act.

Break Down the Stigma

The first action managers can take to safeguard proper mental health in the workplace is to break down the stigma. Mental health is one of the less frequently talked about topics in the workplace. Therefore, managers should bring normalcy in talking about major concerns and illnesses. This will also create an environment of mutual support among the employees.

Create a Thriving Work Environment

The second step is to create a thriving work environment. If someone is investing 8 to 10 hours of a day at work, they must feel a great deal of satisfaction and personal development. Likewise, companies should allow employees to make mistakes and learn from failures. For those struggling with work, you can provide extra support and guidance. Make rotations for the bored. Furthermore, those who thrive in challenging environments, provide challenging works.

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In this blog, we have learned about the importance of proper mental health in the workplace. Likewise, we discussed the major factors impacting employee’s mental health. We put a major focus on how the coronavirus pandemic has caused extra stress among employees. Lastly, we suggested how managers can quickly get in the act by listening and creating a discussion-friendly environment.

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