Mental health. It's a tough subject for businesses to handle and one that your client's employees don’t always want to talk about.
Whether we like it or not, mental illness has its cold, firm grip on one in five US adults and it’s also likely to have a direct impact on your clients' businesses, and their bottom line.
The issue isn’t that mental health issues aren’t recognised but they’re still not part of mainstream workplace conversations. It’s the ghostly arm that pushes and prods and tries to get your attention – but sometimes you just don’t want to admit it’s there.
We need to expand the definition of workplace wellbeing to include mental health alongside physical health. Flexible work schedules, giving workers latitude in decision-making and setting reasonable health goals can all be combined to establish a more permanent, healthy workplace environment.
The question is how can we do this in a way that’s both sensitive and effective?
Research suggests both employers and employees aren’t giving employee assistance programmes (EAPs) much attention. A Chestnut Global Partners’ Trends Report showed the cumulative EAP usage rate in 2015 was only 5.5 per cent, suggesting both employers and employees have placed their attention elsewhere.
EAPs are intended to help employees deal with personal problems that might adversely impact their work performance, health and well-being. They provide direct, confidential access to professionals who can assist with areas of concern causing distress, from work related issues to family problems and mental illness.
Introducing EAPS can not only help reduce absenteeism and health costs, but also show mental health support is a priority within your business. You’re openly acknowledging such problems exist and you value your employees, not just when they’re excelling in the workplace, but when they’re struggling too.
Workplace stress can lead to missed work, working while ill, lack of productivity, decline in morale, and costly health issues over time.Having an EAP and not communicating it to staff is as ineffective as not having one. As well as making it part of the onboarding process for new hires, be sure to remind your staff about it regularly – on noticeboards, via your intranet, through email – to keep it front of mind.
We need to try to find ways to incorporate mental health into company conversations. That’s not to say it’s appropriate to make it the topic of conversation at the water-cooler – your employees may not be comfortable discussing their mental health with a manager - or even family members.
Instead, consider having at least one HR professional who is trained in intervention coaching and has open office hours for discussing these matters in private. Make sure access to help and the necessary information about this is openly available – whether that’s through your internal e-newsletter or a portal on your company website.
Some third-party health care technology companies even give employees a private forum to talk about their mental health concerns, which can help those who may not yet be comfortable accessing online mental health materials in the workplace.
Companies are able to expand across continents with global buy-outs, meaning office moves and colleagues might be split across multiple time zones. This may be great for business, but The American Institute of Stress argues such changes can create a negative person-environment fit. Often, it’s not the job, but a company’s “always on culture” that leads to employee burn-out.
According to a 2016 study, 48 per cent of millennial employees said they felt less fulfilled due to a decline in work/life balance and recognition for a job well done. For millennials, work/life integration is the new work/life balance.
Believe it or not, giving your staff the flexibility to escape rigid work patterns could not only reduce employee stress, but also increase productivity. In one of the largest global workplace surveys of its kind - Vodafone’s Flexible: friend or foe? - 83 per cent of respondents said adopting flexible working resulted in greater productivity and 61 percent said it helped increase company profits.
Flexibility is no longer just a case of work/life balance: it is a health issue and we can use it to support those who may need different work styles to prevent increasing stress and illness.
Stress is a major cause of workplace absence, and it can lead to or exacerbate mental health conditions, as well as other medical conditions if not managed properly. While the short-term responses to stress are usually harmless, long-term exposure to stress can lead to serious and costly issues.
For employers, workplace stress can lead to missed work, working while ill, lack of productivity, decline in morale, and costly health issues over time – all of which impact a company’s bottom line.
It’s in a company’s best interest to proactively and intentionally manage stress in the workplace. Training managers to spot the signs of stress and how to break the cycle of stress can prevent it from becoming a bigger problem, especially for at-risk employees. Other ways to manage stress in the workplace are to prioritize work-life balance, implement mindfulness programs, or use technology or apps that encourage mental breaks.
Building a general culture of health is the best way to create a positive environment that supports both physical and mental health. Offering a combination of programs that support your workplace demographic – including flexible working, EAPs, paid time off and other policies that support work/life integration, lunchtime exercise classes and an open-door approach to HR.
Michelle Jackson is assistant vice-president of Workforce Solutions for Colonial Life
