Donal Whelan outlines six essential steps to foster openness, support and well-being in your organisation during Mental Health Awareness Month
October is Mental Health Awareness Month, and while the stigma around mental health issues may be decreasing, disclosing problems to others in your organisation might not be getting easier. Many employees hide mental health concerns for fear of being labelled ‘unstable’ or ‘unreliable’.
With increased awareness about mental health and a movement toward removing the negative stigma associated with mental conditions, many workplaces are stepping up to change their policies.
Improving mental health awareness in your office begins with these six key steps.
1. Increase awareness
Training sessions for all employees, particularly those in management positions or who could potentially need to oversee employees with mental illnesses, can make it easier for everyone to communicate, build rapport and react appropriately to situations involving mental health.
Topics should include a basic understanding of mental health problems like depression and anxiety and how to recognise signs of mental health issues in yourself and your colleagues while explaining that symptoms can vary widely and may not always be obvious.
2. Provide tools for support
The biggest surprise for many leaders when dealing with employees who suffer from mental health issues is that they aren’t expected to ‘fix’ them.
Instead, it’s necessary to provide tools to support those employees, much like the tools and accommodations provided to employees with differing needs.
This might include, for example, providing a more flexible work schedule for employees with depression or anxiety concerns.
Written instructions, not verbal ones, may prove to be the only accommodation an individual with memory problems needs while removing environmental triggers (such as smells or certain noises) can solve many problems for individuals who have panic attacks.
3. Create a mental health policy
See Change has put together a great sample mental health policy that will help you establish clear guidelines for your business. Keep in mind that your mental health policy needs to include information about:
- Avoiding discrimination due to mental illness;
- How to establish mental illness and what criteria are required; and
- How to create accommodations for employees with mental illnesses.
Remember that each individual is different. Unique accommodations will be required based on the individual’s skills and strengths, as for employees with physical disabilities.
A flexible policy will make meeting every employee’s needs easier.
4. Encourage a healthy work-life balance
Employees who have a poor work-life balance are more likely to show signs of depression, anxiety and instability.
Promoting good mental health includes preventing employees from working outside their contracted hours, encouraging and supporting life events outside the workplace, and creating policies that do not penalise employees for taking accrued time off.
Life outside the office can significantly impact life within it, so supporting employees in their everyday lives is critical.
5. Recognise signs of stress
Alongside mental health awareness training, managers and supervisors throughout your business should receive training in recognising signs and symptoms of stress in employees.
Learning to alleviate that stress will help make healthier, more productive employees.
Some common signs of stress include:
- acting consistently tired;
- irritability;
- an increase in the need to take sick leave, particularly in an employee who has not previously been ill regularly;
- sudden difficulty completing regular work tasks; and
- indecisiveness or insecurity.
6. Create a culture of openness
Mental health concerns or stresses can appear without warning. In many cases, employees will hide or minimise those concerns to prevent discrimination. On top of worrying about the condition itself or the things that have led to it, they’re also concerned that they’ll lose their job or be labelled incompetent as a result.
Encouraging a culture of openness throughout the office will enable employees to open up , from admitting when they’ve taken on too heavy a workload or have been working too many hours to keep up to sharing mental health concerns with their supervisors.
Supporting mental health in your office is critical to maintaining a safe, healthy environment for all your employees. By creating an environment where people are encouraged to thrive regardless of mental health concerns, you’ll find happier, more productive employees who are firmly committed to your organisation.
Donal Whelan is Managing Director at Lincoln Recruitment
LOADING...