A sizable chunk of our lives is structured by what we do for a living. It’s where most of our waking hours are spent and can be a key to financial independence. Working is important to our mental and physical health because it gives us a sense of purpose and accomplishment. Many people view their jobs as fulfilling their lifelong ambitions and interests, whereas for others, work is simply a means to an end. In any case, it’s a crucial aspect of being human.
There is a growing need to examine this problem because of the negative effects it has on people’s physical, emotional, and mental health throughout the 9 to 5 workday. Work-related stress has detrimental repercussions on both individuals and their employers, including desk rage (activities by employees that might be destructive to the business; for example, theft, and verbal abuse) and decreased productivity.
Why Is The Mental Stability Of Employees Important?
If we head to Google, we see right once that mental health is a major subject. Individuals and communities alike seek answers to questions like “10 ways to prevent mental illness” and “How to create a positive, welcoming environment at work,” and they ask what it takes to improve their mental health.
That’s because it’s contagious to have a healthy mind or an unhealthy one. The more reliable, upbeat, and conscientious your staff is, the better off your office environment will be. This, in turn, has significant repercussions for your company’s bottom line. Let’s have a look at the most salient advantages of a clean and healthy office:
It sets you apart from the competition as an employer. Making the emotional well-being of workers a high priority makes an organization more attractive to prospective personnel. One’s standing in the community is crucial at all times.
It helps keep workers from leaving for greener pastures. The Thriving at Work evaluation found that persons with long-term mental health difficulties were twice as likely to quit their employment as their coworkers who did not suffer from mental health issues. A good, healthy workplace that prioritizes the well-being of the employees is essential for reducing the expenses associated with high employee attrition.
It’s a useful tool for decreasing expenses. According to the same The Thriving at Work evaluation, the annual cost to the UK economy due to poor mental health is as high as £99 billion. Imagine the damage to the US economy caused by the fact that medical care is not provided for free here. Costs to businesses due to absenteeism and issues arising from stress, anxiety, etc. account for £42 billion.
It’s a great way to get more out of your teams. Workplaces with high levels of mental wellness are more productive, and there is solid evidence that good mental health and excellent management go hand in hand. Statistics show that by focusing on employee happiness and health, businesses may boost output by as much as 12 percent. Employee satisfaction is directly correlated with productivity. According to the BITC research, FTSE 100 firms that put an emphasis on employee well-being generate 10% higher returns than their industry peers.
There’s no doubt that having mentally healthy personnel is important for the success of your organization. vIt is in the best interest of any business to foster a pleasant and safe working environment. Now all we have to figure out is how to best support and care for your mental health, as well as the mental health of your team.
To that end, VistaCreate has implemented various initiatives throughout the years to promote positive mental health in the workplace. So, let’s delve into our list of tried and true mental health recommendations that actually work.
Ways To Promote Mental Health At The Workplace
- Providing more opportunities for employees to build healthy connections with coworkers, keep their passion for work high, and act as a buffer against stress by participating in individual or group activities outside of work may be beneficial.
- Provide incentives for leading a healthy lifestyle, such as free gym memberships and healthy food options in the cafeteria. According to Susan Voit’s (2001) study, putting in a gym in the office can boost morale.
- Changes to the assessment and incentive systems, with an emphasis on performance rather than hours, worked.
- Detoxing from technology can help you achieve a better work-life balance and set healthy boundaries between your job life and your personal life.
- Activities such as yoga, meditation, longer breaks, designated vacations, health screenings, app subscriptions, and therapy sessions should be made available at no cost. Sports days are regularly held by many companies as a means of encouraging workers to work together and boost morale.
- Having more sessions/talks regarding mental health may raise awareness and provide a safe space where employees don’t fear being judged when they open up about their own struggles.
- Lack of clarity in job descriptions, advancement standards, and other areas has been a significant source of tension in the workplace. Clarifying feedback on responsibilities and expectations becomes crucial.
- Hot desking (a style of work in which employees share stations, particularly useful when the number of employees exceeds the number of desks) promotes teamwork and communication by requiring employees to sit next to one another.
- Alterations to work schedules, such as Adobe India’s (Pandya, Khanal, & Upadhyaya, 2022) implementation of a “third Friday off” to provide staff more time to cope with stresses adaptively or Nike’s (2000) implementation of a “designated week off to priorities mental health,” might help.
- Employee stress can be reduced if they are given more leeway in making decisions at work, according to a notion proposed by Karasek in 1979. So, including more people in the decision-making process and allowing them greater agency at work might help reduce stress.
- Making sure that workers with special transportation requirements are taken care of is one way to cut down on distractions at the office.
- Employees should be asked about their mental and physical health, social support, quality of life, and family circumstances on a regular basis so that any necessary interventions may be planned and implemented.
Wrap Up
Mental health and well-being interventions are an essential aspect of an organization’s holistic approach to health care. By incorporating innovative approaches into the work culture, mental health problems in the workforce may be detected and tailored therapies introduced sooner, reducing the tumult caused by these problems. Since the productivity of a healthy population has a positive impact on the economy, it stands to reason that businesses should take measures to protect their employees’ emotional and physical well-being.
