Managing Mental Health in the Workplace
The average person will spend one-third of their life at work. This makes managing mental health in the workplace vital, especially as mental health can have a direct impact on physical health.
Poor mental health doesn’t just impact your employees; it also impacts your business’ productivity and success. As new generations enter the workforce, you will also see an impact on hiring as younger workers often place a higher degree of importance on mental health resources in the workplace.
Managing workplace mental health starts with reviewing benefits, policies, and practices that support employee mental health. You also need to provide resources to help employees improve their mental health.
Workplace Factors that Negatively Impact Mental Health
One in three employees report that their job has a negative impact on their mental health. 65% of workers are at risk of developing mental health issues in general, meaning that managing your workplace practices and culture is important to supporting employee mental health.
Whether directly or indirectly related to mental health, your workplace culture could have a negative impact on employee mental health. Factors that negatively impact employees include:
- Excessive workloads or work-related stress
- Toxic work relationships
- Lack of trust in leadership
- Unclear work direction
- Uncertainty of ability to complete work tasks
- Lack of meaningful work
- Lack of teamwork
- Workplace discrimination
- Favoritism in the workplace
- Harassment in the workplace
- Uncertainty of self-ability to perform work tasks
It is important to evaluate your workplace culture to ensure that employees feel safe and to provide a means for them to report any concerns. Make sure your employees have the resources they need to succeed in the workplace and create a culture of open communication.
Poor Mental Health Effect on Employees
Issues with mental health in the workplace can negatively affect employee performance. If an employee is dealing with a mental health issue, you will likely see changes in how they interact in the workplace.
Decreased Productivity
Happy employees are 13% more productive than employees who are dealing with stress, anxiety, depression, or other mental health concerns.
Poor Communication
Mental health issues can make employees feel alone, leading them to isolate themselves even more. This can lead to poor communication with managers and coworkers.
Reduced Employee Engagement
Poor mental health can disconnect employees. They may find themselves feeling like an outsider, leading them to disengage from their work and from their coworkers. The more they disengage, the less connected they feel, leading to a cycle of disengagement if not addressed.
Increased Mistakes
Mental health issues affect cognitive abilities, physical health, and daily functioning, which can lead to increased mistakes in the workplace. These mistakes can happen even with daily tasks.
Increased Absenteeism
12 billion working days are lost each year due to depression and anxiety. Increased absenteeism can be due to a lack of motivation, fear of failure, or even physical issues related to poor mental health.
Increased Turnover
Issues with mental health in the workplace can increase turnover due to disabilities related to mental health, or a desire to find better resources to manage health. This is especially true if the workplace is directly associated with the mental health issues concerned.
Signs to Watch Out For
With proper training, your leadership team can learn how to spot signs of mental health issues in the employees they work directly with. With regular check-ins and evaluations, managers have a chance to help employees deal with mental health concerns.
Some signs to watch out for include:
- Declining job performance
- Trouble focusing on tasks
- Changes in mood
- Loss of interest in activities
- Increased fear or nervousness
- Increased sensitivity
- Exhibiting behavior out of the norm for the employee
- Increased absences or increased physical ailments
- Decreased participation in team activities
Managers should review past evaluations and consider all interactions to look for patterns that could point to signs of mental health concerns.
How to Prioritize Mental Health in the Workplace
The U.S. Surgeon General put together a framework for addressing mental health issues in the workplace. This framework looks at the different areas that affect mental health to help employers determine how they can provide the best resources to meet their employees’ needs.
Offer Mental Health Benefits
Access to mental health resources is a top concern for employees, especially younger generations. 41% of employees stated they would quit their current job if they received an offer that provided more mental health resources.
If you offer a group health insurance plan, it must treat mental health coverage requirements the same as surgical or medical benefits, according to the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). This means financial requirements such as copays and deductibles should be the same for medical and mental health coverage.
Look for benefit options that provide resources for employees with mental health concerns. This can include insurance plans, assessment tools, counseling options, Employee Assistance Programs (EAP), or other programs that provide resources.
Train Management to Recognize Signs and Symptoms
Managers have a better chance of helping employees who are dealing with mental health issues if they have proper training. Make sure your leadership has access to training resources that can teach them how to recognize signs and teach them how to reach out to employees who are struggling.
Provide your management with information they can share with employees on signs, symptoms, and treatment options for managing mental health in the workplace.
Provide Stress Management Training
Employees who are overwhelmed or stressed are more likely to experience mental health issues. You can help them combat this by prioritizing training that provides strategies for dealing with their workplace stress.
Encourage Open Communication
Employees need to feel safe discussing mental health concerns in the workplace. Unfortunately, 43% of people surveyed said they were afraid that revealing mental health concerns would negatively impact them at work.
If you want to reduce issues of mental health in the workplace, you need to assure employees that sharing mental health concerns will not harm their job security.
Encourage Work-Life Balance
Employees need to be able to disconnect from work so they can rest and unload work-related stressors. There are several ways you can encourage employees to take time for themselves.
Encourage employees to take vacation time. This means promoting PTO benefits and respecting employee time off. It’s important to respect an employee’s time away from work. Do not call, text, or email during vacation time or during non-work hours.
It’s also important to encourage employees to take breaks during the workday. Employees should step away from their workspace during lunch or other break times. This also means stepping away when the workday is over.
Create a Culture of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB)
30% of people said they do not feel supported in the workplace due to their identity. To prioritize mental health in the workplace, developing a diverse workplace that encourages community and inclusion is important. Develop a culture where all employees belong and feel heard.
Recognize Employee Contributions
Everyone wants to feel that their contributions matter. This is why employee recognition programs are so important to managing mental health in the workplace. Employees who feel undervalued or unnecessary are more likely to develop mental health concerns such as stress, anxiety, and depression.
Employees who don’t feel appreciated feel less connected and are more likely to disconnect even more from the workplace community. Encourage managers to show recognition and give employees opportunities to feel they are completing meaningful work.
Flexibility in the Workplace
Different employees will thrive in different circumstances. Some employees need more autonomy to complete their daily work. Others prefer collaboration or more involvement from their leaders to feel comfortable.
Some employees feel more accomplished if they can work from home while others prefer the office setting. Work with managers to understand employee needs and look for opportunities to provide more flexibility.
Allowing employees to feel more in control of their work settings will help them feel more included and understood.
Provide Growth Opportunities
Employees who feel they have no room to grow within your workplace community are more likely to feel stuck or isolated. People need opportunities to learn and grow to feel more accomplished.
Take time to understand employee career goals and look for opportunities to give them roles that meet these career goals.
Make Mental Health Awareness Part of Your People Management
Managing mental health in the workplace is easiest if awareness is incorporated into your people and performance management strategies. Provide managers with the tools they need to recognize mental health concerns and support struggling employees.
HR Service, Inc. can help you design performance management strategies that help you provide the necessary tools for managing workplace mental health. Contact us to get started.
Written by: HR Solutions Team & Penny Clark