Demonstrate work-life balance and encourage your employees to take care of their own mental health
Toxic work environments can have a negative impact on the mental health of employees. If workplace stress is regarded as one of the major causes of mental health issues, it can also help solve those issues.
How?
By resolving the problematic factors. Leaders are likely to see employees struggle with depression, anxiety, burnout, trauma, and PTSD. Mental health experiences will be different for everyone according to economic opportunity, job type and caregiving responsibilities along with many other variables.
So, what can managers and leaders do to support people if they feel stressful at their workplace?
Here are some tips to follow:
1. Mental health training: Having access to therapy and mental health services is not enough. Even if a company provides coverage for mental and behavioral health issues, what employees need the most is training on how to make use of these resources. Managers should be taught about the signs of anxiety, depression and other common mental health conditions and the correct way to handle these issues. Having an open line of communication with the manager directly can reduce the stress of not wanting team members to know about your issues.
2. Treat employees like members of the company: Treat an employee like an insider. Managers usually keep impactful news from their employees. This could make employees feel like outsiders and become a reason why they may quit.
3. Be vulnerable: The stigma around mental health will decrease only if people, especially those in power, share their experiences and be truthful about their mental health struggles. This will make the employees feel comfortable talking about their own mental health challenges.
4. Remind employees about perks: Remind employees about the lifestyle perks that they get, like gym memberships, preventative care, wellness programs, nutritional counselling and much more.
5. Well-being should be a part of their company culture: Celebrate the healthy self-care habits of your employees. Demonstrate work-life balance and encourage them to take care of their mental health. Make sure that your team knows the value of their well-being as much as their productivity, and emphasise that they should not let their health get affected.
