Top Tips: Making Your Workplace Mental-Health Friendly
by Natasha Christou Digital Marketing ConsultantIt’s
well-known across every business that a happy worker is a productive worker.
Employers are responsible when it comes to creating a safe and friendly work
environment for their employees. Of course, this needs to extend out to
employees coping with mental health conditions as well. Being able to work is a
vital component in dealing with mental health problems, as it can help build a
crucial element of stability and purpose. It keeps the hands and the mind busy
and feeds a better sense of self.
There
are a plenty of ways in which the workplace can be damaging to an employee’s
mental health, however. These issues are often easy to spot and simple to
fix. But there can be some problems that slip below the radar.
Employees
are definitely more switched-on to the benefits of a workplace that is aware of
mental health perks. Gone are the days of free food, tea, and coffee being ample workplace
perks. Instead, workers want to see employers do
more for their happiness, and mental health care was one of the top most sought
after work perks going in to 2020.
Take
a look at the following steps to help your employees work happier and
healthier.
Have your leave strategy in place
Flexitime
is great for both employers and employees as they can work appointments around
office hours. Using this perk means that an employee can stay on top of the
physical health. But what about their mental health? There has been a lot of
talk about the use of “mental health days” at
work. However, there aren’t many businesses that have
deployed a policy regarding it in any official way. This has caused
many workers to be forced to use sick days due to burnout or high stress
levels, or even a full-blown episode of mental illness.
Doing
this can cause employees to feel guilty, as they feel a sick day should only be
used when someone feels physically sick. Plus, for an employee with autism
for example, the idea of taking a sick day when one doesn’t have any physical symptoms of
illness can seem like an illogical option. It would be better for everyone
involved if there were clearer policies in the workplace regarding sick days
and mental health days. Special leave policies can be useful in this regard.
This policy would allow workers to set aside a number of days dedicated to
mental health, or for workers with mental illnesses, as recovery days from a
bad spell.
While a reported 30 per cent of employees not likely to tell their bosses if
they have mental health problems, a discreet policy
like this is perfect. Furthermore, calling in sick due to mental health is the
fourth most common reason for calling in sick at all in the UK
— it’s not just your employees with mental illnesses that would
benefit from such a policy!
One
business that has adapted such a policy is the Mental Health Foundation. Its
employees are allowed two days per year as dedicated mental health days. This
makes for less standard sick days being taken, and an overall better feeling of
security and care for employees.
Create your mental health toolkit
Another
effective way to show employees that their mental health is important to their
employer is to offer a mental health toolkit. Whether this is a physical pack
of information or an electronic-based hub, a mental health toolkit can contain
a variety of useful things, such as:
·
Resources, from local
mental health group contact details to charities, such as the Samaritans
·
eLearning prospects
·
A stereotype-buster.
This would outline common mental health problems and illnesses and dismiss
misinformation in order to encourage discussion and/or seeking medical
advice.
o For
example, OCD has a false stereotype as being purely about cleanliness. As a
result, many sufferers don’t even consider the idea that their behaviour may be
a symptom of this disorder. Explaining this misinformation could prompt people
to seek medical advice for something they would have otherwise dismissed.
·
A list of easily-made
adjustments that employees can request from the workplace
o For
example, secluded work areas for those who struggle with sensory overload.
·
Where relevant
break-away spaces are
·
A list of the
company’s named (and trained) mental health first aiders. Your first aiders
could also wear custom personalised lanyards for
more subtle identification. This allows employees to find who they need to
speak to discreetly if needed.
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Created on Apr 20th 2020 06:15. Viewed 566 times.