Protect Your Team By Taking Mental Health Seriously

This article that we found helpful comes from Entrepreneur.

Taking Mental Health Seriously Is How the Best Business Leaders Protect Their Teams

Mental health awareness and education should be mandatory in any workplace. Good business leaders are the ones who hire the best talent and give them the support they need to be great, and part of that support has to include their mental health.

Here are four things you can do to get that ball rolling in your company.

1. Make transparency the norm.

You cannot develop awareness around mental health in the workplace and implement effective policies and procedures to address it if your staff is afraid to raise the conversation. So, build your company to be transparent. Create a culture that allows the subject of mental health to be shared and not buried. Hold focus sessions, and open the dialogue with your team.

You have to foster an environment that encourages your employees to speak freely if they are struggling and to trust that they won’t be punished for it.

2. Really have your employees’ backs.

With mental health issues so common, it’s not a matter of if your employees will ever need support, it’s a matter of when. Your team needs to know that when they open up about their mental health, you will have their backs.

So, once the conversation has been started, listen, understand what they’re going through, learn what they need, and reverse engineer how you can help them when the time comes. If people need time off, create an open policy on requesting leave.

If they need doctors or therapy, ensure that your health plan is designed to help them access those resources.

3. Don’t let your office be a trigger.

Employees spend anywhere from a quarter to a third of their lives at work. That time shouldn’t have to feel like torture.

Some jobs are stressful, and that can’t be avoided, but that does not mean that the work environment has to be challenging too. Create the kind of workplace where your employees will actually like coming into the office.

4. Don’t feel like you have to do it all yourself.

If you’re looking for ways to support your staff in their mental wellness, reach out to other businesses in your network for tools, spaces and resources your staff could benefit from.

In business, a good staff can be your best asset. Your company runs because they commit their time and energy to it. So, give them back something more than a paycheck.

Get to know your employees beyond their job descriptions, prioritize their mental well-being, and create a system of support they can count on when they need it.

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