7 Ways to Increase Mental Health in the Workplace
Promoting mental health in employees is difficult. With a plethora of personalities and work styles, managing and supervising a group of people requires an understanding of mental health and implementing strategies to increase mental strength among employees. Mental health does not refer to only intelligence, but also to the ability to rebound from a failure, to show creativity in the face of challenges, and remain diligent despite barriers that sometimes stem from emotional or behavioral issues. Mental health practices increase morale among employees, creating a safe and productive environment. Try these 7 strategies to promote mental health in employees:
1. Encourage Time to De-Stress
Working throughout the week is a draining task, and the weekends never seem long enough. In order to continue to succeed, employees need to understand the importance of self-care. Whether on the job or at home, encourage employees to participate in stress-relieving activities. Offer an employee assistance program for counseling, provide training for mindfulness practices to increase stress relief while at work, or insist on taking appropriate breaks in the workday. Remind employees to spend time off disconnected from work, focusing on their lives outside, which ultimately creates a clearer focus on the projects at hand during work hours instead of worrying about personal lives.
2. Promote Resilience
Maintaining composure and working through stressful situations requires resiliency. Whether employees are filing paperwork or fighting fires, the ability to manage the anxiety around work demands is necessary to continue increasing productivity. Promote resilience through offering support, guidance, and affirmations when employees are struggling in the workplace. Applaud employees when they show the flexibility and determination that is necessary to increase resiliency.
3. Empower Discussion
Some of the most discontent people merely want to have a voice. Encourage appropriate and respectful discussion with employees. Providing team meetings focused on ideas and opportunities for growth can reframe negative complaints to positive outlook and growth. Discuss objectives and tasks openly with employees, encouraging input and creativity from the employees involved
4. Inspire Accountability
Accountability promotes ownership of not only successes but also mistakes. Showing accountability for personal actions, both positive and negative, models the behavior for employees. When employees are focused on holding themselves accountable, productivity and job satisfaction will increase.
5. Evaluate and Accommodate
Every employee needs to have a system for evaluation to manage progress and barriers in performance and behavior at work. Implementing a consistent evaluation, allowing opportunity for self-evaluation, and monitoring the flow of the evaluation will allow employees to understand personal goals and successes. Accommodate necessary changes and structure for struggling employees, and provide positive affirmations or rewards for employees consistently improving on evaluations.
6. Teach Productivity Skills
Many employees flourish with structure and goals. Providing a productivity goal or performance objectives is empowering, but can also prove anxiety-provoking for people not equipped with productivity skills. Offer trainings and suggestions targeted at lesser known or under-utilized skills to increase productivity and performance in the workplace.
7. Reinforce Progress
As employees progress and work harder to reach goals, provide incentives or acknowledgment of the accomplishments. Reinforcing progress breeds continued progress. Feeling valued increases job satisfaction, and encourages employees to move forward with more motivation to succeed.
Mental health is an integral aspect of employee wellness. For more information about how to create health and wellness practices in the workplace, contact us.
