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Category: Work Life Balance

  • How To Create A Supportive And Inclusive Work Environment For Mental Health

    How To Create A Supportive And Inclusive Work Environment For Mental Health

    “Companies that embrace diversity and inclusion in all aspects of their business statistically outperform their peers.” – Josh Bersin.

    Modern time demands diversity and inclusion to remain central to what an organisation does. The world knows creating a supportive and inclusive work environment starts from the top. But most importantly, the process begins with an in-depth understanding of the importance of employee well-being.

    A Forbes article says, “Mental health and diversity and inclusion (D&I) are closely connected.” Therefore, fostering an inclusive and supportive work environment is crucial to ensure the good mental health of your people. So, let’s get into further details and unveil what can be done to support employees.

    Link Between Inclusion & Mental Well-being

    Inclusion and mental well-being are strongly linked, and promoting inclusion can have a positive impact on individuals’ mental health.

    • Inclusive workplaces promote higher employee well-being.

    • Employees with good mental health are more inclusive.

    • Inclusive workplaces enable connection with others.

    • Inclusive workplaces support work-life balance.

    • Inclusive workplaces support a positive self-image.

    • Well-planned mental well-being initiatives recognise diversity in the needs of employees.

    • Diversity and inclusion programs recognise mental health and well-being as diversity issues.

    Mental Health & Inclusion: How Can Companies Build a Supportive Environment for Workforce

    #1. Understand Mental Health

    The first step toward creating an organisational culture that supports employees’ mental health is overcoming the stigma. People often don’t discuss their mental health as freely as they discuss other ailments.

    Organisational leaders have the power to break the stigma. To ease the process, the primary focus is to understand the term mental health and the issues that lead to disturbed mental states. It can begin with reading scholarly articles, surfing online resources, and talking to mental health counselors.​

    #2. Increase Awareness

    If you have people shying away from talking about their mental issues, trust us, you don’t have a healthy organisational culture. The need is to educate the workforce and help them manage their mental well-being without fearing ridicule.

    Hiring managers and managers must be trained to handle sensitive issues. The next duty is to direct employees to the best resources to help them fight mental health concerns. Therefore, offering solid training to the leaders on inclusion is crucial.​

    #3. Recognise the Needs of Different Employees

    Devising a well-being program isn’t enough if it lacks accessibility. The focus must be on language, literacy, religion, culture, age, and health status. Additionally, consider the presence of diverse talent within the organisation before designing a well-being program. This will help you in making it accessible to all employees.

    A well-devised program helps in promoting inclusion and a healthy organisational culture.​

    #4. Evaluate the current situation

    Keep a check on the current situation and identify the areas that need improvement. Then, at the next stage, create an action plan and measure the progress.

    The best way to understand the state of employees’ well-being and satisfaction is by conducting company-wide engagement surveys. This will help you strategise and identify appropriate actions to build a happier, healthier, and more productive workforce.

    Did you read it? What is Diversity & Inclusion in the Workplace, and Why is it Important?​

    #5. Track Engagement

    Continuously monitor your organisational culture and gather insights on employee mood, morale, and engagement. For better results, conduct a survey and measure aspects such as the kind of employee energy inside the company, employee engagement level, mood and morale of employees, and changes in company culture.

    The benefit of tracking engagement is developing an environment focused on employee well-being and mental health.​

    #6. Reduce Work Stress

    Employees who are distracted by another taxing task or carry a huge workload tend to feel depressed. Oppositely, people with low work stress can deliver higher levels of productivity. But unfortunately, today’s workforce sees a workplace as a source of anxiety and stress.

    The aim should be to reduce the workload levels and promote inclusion to protect employees’ self-esteem and self-worth.​

    #7. Make Language Adjustments

    The choice of words can soothe or trigger a situation. In other words, your chosen words can build a stigma around mental health or break it up. The crux is to make use of inclusive language. There are a few changes you can make to your language.

    • Use person-first language so the person is not defined by their mental state.

    • Refrain from using inappropriate language.

    • Avoid using certain words that can hurt someone deeply.

    • Be supportive and empathise.

    Final Words

    If a company fails to prevent its employees’ mental health from deteriorating, it can have serious consequences. And these after-effects will impact both individuals and the organisation as a whole. The worse that can follow is poor physical health and a sharp decline in their performance and productivity.

    In the words of Howard Schultz, former CEO of Starbucks, “A company’s most valuable asset is its people. When we take care of our employees, they take care of our customers, and that leads to growth and success.”

    An undeniable statement, indeed, that empowers you to start your journey of creating a supportive and inclusive work environment.

    FAQs

    1. How do you create a positive mental health environment?

    Creating a positive mental health environment is not a single person’s task, but it takes a lot of effort. Here are a few tips to help foster an environment supporting mental health.

    • Train supervisors and managers.

    • Introduce support-focused performance management.

    • Ensure the availability of resources to the team.

    • Have open and human-centric conversations with the team.

    • Offer learning opportunities to shape the employee experience.

    • Practice and model good boundaries.

    2. How can I be inclusive of mental health?

    To be inclusive in mental health, you must:

    • Always keep in mind that an employee is a person first.

    • Check-in with your employee timely.

    • Show them that you care and understand.

    • Have regular conversations with the employees about mental health.

    • Convey a message of diversity and inclusion.

  • How Managers Can Support Employee’s Mental Health?

    How Managers Can Support Employee’s Mental Health?

    Managing a team is more than guiding the team members and delegating tasks to generate the desired results. The central aspects of giving your employees a healthy work environment and supporting the team’s mental health are tied to the team management function.

    Why investing in mental health is imperative?

    As per Mercer (2021), almost 50% of employees worldwide report being stressed in everyday life. A recent study by Cigna shows that stress-related illnesses cost Singapore’s economy about US$2.3 billion (S$3.2 billion) annually and account for about 18% of the country’s total health expenditure (Cigna stress report, 2019). Singapore ranks as the second highest among the nine countries in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region surveyed regarding healthcare spending attributable to stress-related illnesses.

    Fortunately, employers are striving to extend employee mental health support in every phase of the employee’s corporate journey within their organisations. There are numerous ways managers can consider supporting their team’s mental health.

    Here is our list of strategies for doing this, curated by our team of expert consultants.

    #1. Understand the Factors Causing Workplace Stress

    An optimum level of stress is good and leads to enhancing organisational performance. But considering the increasing levels of workplace stress, there is a pressing need to check and control the factors instigating stress at work. While minor to significant issues could increase stress levels, the most prominent are excessive workload, non-cooperative seniors, unhealthy work environments, and below-average learning opportunities.​

    #2. Give Employees Space to Pause & Seek Support

    Organisational health and employees’ mental health run alongside and are inseparable. The need of the hour is to make employees feel supported and give them enough space to seek support after a required pause.

    Expect situations to change that may lead to employees requiring a breather.​

    #3. Encourage Employees to Take Earned Vacation or Paid Time Off

    Spending some time away from work can refuel employees’ productivity and motivation. Leaders and managers can encourage their people to take some time off and release them from the guilt of requesting genuine leaves.

    Alternatively, managers could consider organising team events for recreational purposes.​

    #4. Normalise Mental Health Talks

    Let’s face it; no one wants to talk about mental health. But regardless, the stigma attached to having conversations around mental health should be discarded. If organisations cannot encourage employees to have a heart-to-heart talk about mental health, their people will keep doubting their self-sufficiency and develop more severe symptoms.

    “Employers that provide mental health and counselling benefits create a stronger social bond and engender greater employee loyalty.”​

    #5. Check-in on the Team Members Regularly

    Asking your team members about their health and family is the firmest step you can take towards ensuring employees’ good mental health. While they might not share if anything is wrong with them, you can still tell them they have someone who is all ears.

    Additionally, managers can identify an effective way to extend employee mental health support to remote employees.​

    #6. Practice Transparency

    Managers must inform their people sufficiently, be it the micro-tasks that cater to an employee’s daily work schedule or meeting with the CEO. From a practical viewpoint, a lack of agenda for tasks, irrespective of their nature, can cause unnecessary anxiety among the team members. Ensure your people know what you expect from them in a particular situation or a meeting.​

    #7. Be Inclusive

    Present-day managers cannot afford to overlook the importance of being accommodating and offering flexibility. As a manager, educate yourself about what’s happening in your people’s lives and support them in the required manner. For instance, you can offer flexible working hours (of course, not at the cost of the organisation’s goals) to team members having childcare responsibilities or ailing parents to look after. Be generous and realistic to the safest extent.​

    #8. Promote Mental Well-being Throughout the Company

    Invest in building an open culture that supports the organisation’s idea of prioritising mental health over other factors. Spread the word and make every employee know you treat mental health on the same terms as physical health. Also, have policies and strategies in place to ensure support to the team members.​

    #9. Set Reasonable Expectations

    It’s important that managers recognise the employees who might be struggling and have a one-on-one with them. Engaging them in healthy conversations and guiding them on how the organisation and its policies can mend the situation and improve their psychological state. And the best person to remove stress by setting reasonable expectations is a manager.

    Team support will, thus, follow to ensure the good mental health of the employees across the organisation.​

    #10. Support Employees’ Pursuits of Fun 

    Make sure your employees take some time out for fun. For example, encourage them to utilise coffee breaks to interact with one another on non-work related topics. Besides, managers can ask them to list their preferred activities for fun outside work.

    Implementing a well-being programme

    As the number of employees suffering from mental illnesses increases due to changes caused by the pandemic, the need for accessible healthcare is paramount. To address this issue, digital healthcare tools offer several apps to scale up treatments. EAPs, well-being webinars, flexible benefits, and mental health training are current solutions most organisations have in place.

    Although digital mental health solutions provide a great alternative for maintenance and preventive care, one-to-one clinical therapy will still be essential to mental health management.

    Before deciding which digital solution to invest in, employers should reflect on their objectives and employees’ characteristics and preferences.

    Here is a checklist of what you can do to implement a future-proof mental well-being programme:

    • Determine your objectives and how to achieve and measure their success.

    • Adopt a holistic well-being pathway that meets your organisation’s objectives by engaging a wellness consultant.

    • Collect feedback from your employees through focus groups and engagement surveys.

    • Engage a wellness consultant to help plan your well-being framework for the year

    Conclusion

    “The workplace is often the most stressful place a person finds themselves in; employees and managers need to watch for signs of deteriorating mental health in fellow colleagues.”

    The only silver lining to building a stress-free workplace is ensuring the continuous provision of employee mental health support. Opportunely, in the end, your people will always remember how you cultivated a healthy work environment that reflects their loyalty towards the organisation.

    Contact the most dynamic team of specialist recruitment consultants to hire highly skilled professionals. We are just a click away.

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    FAQs

    What can managers do to promote mental health?

    Managers have all the rights to bring the required transformation in the organisation’s environment and policies to promote mental health. First, they must understand the factors that cause stress among the employees. Second, they must give enough space for employees to pause and unwind. Third, they must practice transparency and normalise mental health conversations. Additionally, they must consider promoting an inclusive workplace and set reasonable expectations.

    How can managers support employee well-being?

    Managers can incorporate the necessary policy changes and invest in training to educate the workforce about mental health. Apart from this, they can bring small changes throughout the organisation and their way of helping employees manage stress levels.

    How can managers support their teams?

    Managers can support their team by:

    • Talking to them and knowing what is troubling them at work.

    • Giving them space to pause and unwind.

    • Promoting inclusive work environment.

    • Normalising mental health talks.

    • Checking in on the team members regularly.

  • How To Deal With Burnout In The Workplace?

    How To Deal With Burnout In The Workplace?

    Herbert Freudenberger, a psychologist, was the first to use the term burnout in 1974. The term burnout is often seen as a medical condition, but the reality is that it is a psychological syndrome.

    What is burnout?

    Burnout is a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion, doubt, and pessimism. It can destroy employee productivity, affect their mental well-being, and destroy their career.

    The World Health Organization defines burnout as “a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.”

    It was in 2019 when the World Health Organisation declared burnout an occupational phenomenon in the 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases. The reason behind such a significant declaration was the constant pressure to address the concern.

    With the rising economic pressures, it is imperative to cater to the growing concern of burnout at work. But burnout doesn’t necessarily mean you need to hunt for a new job. While some of you may think you need to do a flip on your career, there are always better and well-thought solutions.

    Let’s help you tackle your burnout and prevent it from being a huge block to your purpose. Additionally, the blog will introduce tips hiring managers (and employees) can adopt to help everyone in an organization maintain work-life balance and mental well-being.

    How can Employees Deal with Burnout?

    #1. Pay Attention to What and When You Feel

    Start identifying your emotions because they constitute a major part of burnout. Monitor your feelings and check for them when they arise, lest resentment and frustration should follow you.

    The best way is to talk to yourself and seek answers to questions such as:

    • What am I feeling now?

    • Why am I feeling this way?

    • Is someone’s actions affecting me?

    • How can I cope?

    #2. Release Your Stress

    Letting stress buildup within you can lead to an explosion (not literally!) but will lead to emotional outbursts. Find a way to vent out that is disrupting your mental peace and has the capacity to destroy your career.

    Everyone is unique, and so are their ways of releasing their stress. However, the most common ways to let the pressure out are:

    • Talking to a friend or a family member your trust.

    • Going out for a walk and spending alone time.

    • Playing your favourite sport.

    #3. Build Healthy Relationships with Co-workers

    Make it easier for yourself to ask for help by developing healthy relationships with your colleagues. Not only will you be able to share good times with them, but it will also give you access to shared resources and a sense of community.

    Consider doing the following:

    • Identify like-minded people and interact with them daily.

    • Stay away from negative people but don’t disrespect them.

    • Talk to your seniors, express your interest in interacting with the team’s brilliant & intellectual minds, and seek their assistance.

    #4. Stick to a Work Schedule

    Undoubtedly, work possesses the potential to keep you sane throughout life. Nonetheless, it can also affect your health and mental well-being if you stretch yourself and make your life revolve only around work. Instead, try setting and sticking to a work schedule that leaves you enough time to focus on other activities..

    Try the below-mentioned tricks:

    • Log out all the work email accounts and communication platforms from your personal devices.

    • Be an early riser and reach your workplace ten minutes before the scheduled time.

    • Don’t discuss or let office-related issues disturb your family time.

    #5. Find Ways to Make Work More Fun

    You can take charge of making your work life fun and interesting. However, we do not mean to indulge in fun activities in a way that starts affecting your work productivity. Ask your manager to incorporate fun yet mind-boggling activities that can make you learn and unwind simultaneously.

    You can take up a few ideas:

    • Finding creative slogans to define your team’s mission

    • Sharing the best & worst work-life experiences.

    • Bringing up innovative ideas to fuel your department’s growth.

    How Can Hiring Managers Deal with Burnout?

    #1. Provide Employees with Recovery Time

    Remember! Your employees are humans first and have personal lives too. Seeing your employees push themselves daily to handle the pressure or meet deadlines is a warning sign for you. Therefore, you must provide recovery time.

    But before that, ensure the respective managers meet the team member in person and get to the problem’s root cause. Also, checking on employees should be a regular activity.​

    #2. Extend Social Support

    The old proverb “United we stand. Divided we fall” supports the prevention of burnout and educates hiring managers to foster community among employees, powering team support and letting employees connect. This will help employees seek guidance to battle workplace burnout.

    Additionally, managers can schedule weekly team lunches or plan activities that bring the team together.

    RELATED READ: How Can Employee Engagement Benefit the Company?​

    #3. Connect Employees to the Organisation

    Help employees connect to their purpose and make their work life meaningful. People who relate to their role in the organisation feel more connected to the company and its purpose.

    Managers can build a connection between the organisation and its workforce. On top of that, shed light on how each employee contributes to organisational success and why their role matters.

    Why should Companies Worry About Employee Burnout?

    The facts here will justify the reasons why there is a need for companies to take employee burnout seriously. Employees who experience burnout are:

    • 63% more likely to take sick leave

    • 13% less confident in their performance

    • 2.6 times more aggressive in hunting for a new job

    • 23% more likely to visit an emergency room

    Bottom Line

    With burnout reaching its pinnacle in today’s corporate world, is it possible to hope for better? Of course, it is. Burnout is preventable. It requires good organisational hygiene, better data, more timely and relevant questions, smarter (more micro) budgeting, and ensuring that your well-being strategy includes wellness offerings.

    The employees, hiring managers, and organisations need to understand the severity of dissatisfaction with work before taking steps to curb it. Watch for symptoms and detect them in yourself and your coworkers. Across the globe, employers can play a key role in improving people’s health in several ways. With collaboration and shared commitment, employers can make a meaningful difference in their employees’ lives and their communities.

    FAQs

    1. What are the five symptoms of burnout?

    The five symptoms of burnout are Excessive stress, Anger & frustration, Detachment, Loss of energy and Lack of motivation.

    2. What is the best way to recover from burnout?

    The best way to recover from burnout is the combined efforts of employees, managers & hiring managers, and the organisation.

    Employees must identify their feelings towards work, talk to their seniors or vent out in a comfortable way. They should also stick to a work schedule and make work fun.

    Managers and hiring managers must give them time to recover if they feel a person is experiencing burnout. Moreover, they must extend social support and make them feel valued.

    Lastly, organisations should take measures to cope with burnout and create policies that support their efforts.

    3. What is the major cause of workplace burnout?

    The major cause of workplace burnout is a heavy workload and excessively long work hours. These reasons frustrate people as they have less time to devote to themselves and their families.