Introduction
The modern world is characterised by a serious and stressful working culture, and therefore, keeping one’s mental health in check has never been as important. This exposes the workers to stress-related factors such as meeting organisational and personal deadlines, attaining set goals, and other demands that affect their lives. Scientific studies have also revealed that mental health disorders such as stress, anxiety, and depression are rife in workplaces, which results in lower outputs, more sick days than necessary, and high turnover. Nevertheless, it is possible to utilise adequate approaches to enhance employees’ well-being at work and reduce the adverse impact of mental health issues on organisations.
In this JobsBuster blog post, we’ll discuss the issue of mental health in the workplace and offer strategies for improving this aspect of organisational functioning.
What is workplace mental health
Organisational mental health can be described as the employees’ psychological health within the workplace. It involves aspects like cognition, affect, and action relating to one’s position; it affects one’s performance, interactions with others, and satisfaction levels at the workplace. A mentally healthy workplace, on the other hand, can be described as a work environment that is characterised by a positive approach towards promoting mental health and managing mental health problems. Such an environment facilitates the productivity of the employees, as they are in a position to deliver their best both within and outside their working stations.
Understanding Mental Health in the Workplace
It is a well-documented fact that workers could experience a variety of mental challenges that can affect working efficiency as well as individuals’ health. Here’s a detailed exploration of some of the most prevalent issues. Here’s a detailed exploration of some of the most prevalent issues.
- Stress
Stress as a common mental health disorder experienced at workplaces, which stems from conditions like increased workload, short deadlines, and the competitive nature of workplaces. This can be described as physical and/or emotional fatigue, a poor attention span, and lowered production rates. It is also a fact that constant stress, whether short-term or long-term will lead to the exacerbation of severe diseases such as hypertension, heart ailments, and poor immunization. Workplace stress reduction measures include workload control, encouragement to maintain nonworking hours, and having resources that educate an employee on how to control his or her stress.
- Anxiety
Organisational stress can result from job demands such as the risk of job loss, interpersonal clashes with co-workers, or poor relations with superiors or anxiety from working out. The signs might comprise anxiety, hyperactivity, and focus troubles. Stress greatly affects an employee by diminishing effectiveness in the provision of their duties, thereby reducing the rate of job satisfaction. Education, managerial involvement, and encouragement, and providing counselling services to the workers are some of the measures that may reduce anxiety at the workplace.
- Depression
Common causes of depression at the workplace include; boredom, initial problems of isolation, low job satisfaction, or other personal issues that are likely to impact productivity. Major symptoms include the presence of a feeling of hopelessness and low energy levels. Guilt is another common feature. Compliance is common in depression in that it may cost an individual’s motivation and concentration at the workplace as well as lead to a possible long-term disability if not treated. Part of that support is a word-of-mouth encouragement, such as the creation of a healthy workplace culture that is not ashamed of the recognition of poor mental health, the provision of healthcare resources such as counselling services, and encouraging the employee to seek professional help.
These mental health issues need to be combatted, but it is more than a problem of informing employees and stakeholders; it also requires a pro-active method that focuses on creating a friendly working environment. Hence, organisations need to consider promoting mental health as critical, as it can improve employees’ health, performance, and organisational satisfaction.
Impact of poor mental health
The impact of poor mental health on productivity and overall business performance is profound, affecting both individuals and organisations in various ways: The impact of poor mental health on productivity and overall business performance is profound, affecting both individuals and organisations in various ways.
- Reduced Productivity
The common problems that people facing mental issues face are either difficulty in concentration or even the ability to make correct decisions or to even put their best performance forward. Thus, they may scale down their production and are likely to produce substandard products. This not only has a direct relation to the productivity of an individual but also to the productivity of the team and the entire organisation. Delays may be observed in projects, there may be an upsurge in errors, and organisational effectiveness is bound to experience a decline.
- Increased Absenteeism and Presenteeism
Another employment-related factor is that people with different mental health problems normally take more sick leave than a healthy employee. Further, there is also a huge problem of presenteeism, where employees do attend work, but due to various mental ailments, they cannot perform effectively at their place of work. Neither absenteeism, nor presenteeism are beneficial to performance because both negatively affect the work flow and increase the load on other employees. This can lead to a continuous cycle of low morale and productivity within any organisation, leading to stagnancy.
- Higher Staff Turnover
Organisations that fail to manage mental health issues at the workplace will likely see a rise in their turnover rates. When employees feel that they have no support or that they cannot handle the demands that their job puts on them anymore, they will look for a new job. This brings in costs such as employees’ recruitment, orientation, and training and conveys the effects of staff turnover on team dynamics and organisational memory. High turnover rates are detrimental to the company by damaging the company’s image, so employees will not be attracted to join the company.
- Negative Workplace Culture
This is in a way that in a poor mental health state, the employees contribute to a negative workplace climate that is low morale within the employees, low cooperation, and high levels of employee conflict. Besides future employees being driven away by its negative culture, it also reinvents itself by increasing the stress and mental health problems of its staff. Such an environment can trigger frequent occurrences of workplace bullying and harassment, which can worsen mental health and job satisfaction.
Suitable management of mental health disorders considerably affects not only employees but also the general performance of a business. The effects labelled under work-to-family conflict are some of the challenging aspects of working life that can be combatted using good organisational policies, resources needed for managing mental health concerns, effective communication, and organisation that will support long-term positive outcomes.
Early Warning Signs and Symptoms to Look Out For
Any mental health problems impact both the people as well as the organisations considerably. That is why it is rather important to identify early symptoms of the disease and act correspondingly as soon as possible. Campaigns that encourage work environment where clerkly employees are encouraged to open up regarding their mental health state are important for the formation of healthy employees.
- Changes in Mood
It is necessary to recognise vital changes in mood to determine possible mental health problems or disorders. This can include sad, hopeless or irritable mood lasting for weeks or even months beyond the expected timeframe. Fluctuations in mood in which an individual changes from a happy mood to a sad mood without any prior reason are also indicative of a problem.
- Behavioural Changes
It also implies that it is possible to recognise changes in behaviour that suggest the presence of a mental health issue. This could be in form of aloofness which is pulling out or where a person avoids the company of others or his normal social activities. Overall, decreased quality and efficiency of work, delay in delivery of assignments, frequent skips (slumbering at workplace) are some of the symptoms. Furthermore, it is necessary to focus on the changes in the energy levels, for instance, when even the basic work seems to be too burdensome.
- Physical Symptoms
There is always a concern that physical signs can be related to the state of a person’s mental disorder. Without apparent reasons, one can experience general body pains including headaches or stomach-ache, among others, which are symptoms of such an illness. Some of the signals include difficulty in sleeping, difficulty in waking up, oversleeping and other such sleeping disorders. A person’s eating habits can also be affected; when appetite increases or decreases and this leads to drastic changes in the weight can be as a result of mental illness.
- Cognitive Issues
A lot of mental health issues impact the cognitive processes. Cognitive trouble that may range from problems with focusing, following discussions, or executing work-related tasks are among the signs. Difficulties in decision making, where a person may become unusually sluggish with decision making and take a long time are also signs of the same condition. Another sign is memory issues, which is often expressed as inability to remember things, or sometimes difficulty in remembering certain details.
- Emotional Distress
The emergence of and report of emotional symptoms is very important in the diagnosis of mental health disorders. Suicidal thoughts, which refer to the case where a person will express a feeling of hopelessness or a negative attitude towards life, should be considered as serious. Symptoms may include worthlessness, feeling of guilt, or self-condemnation. This is characterised by persistence of worries and fears that affect normal functioning of an individual, being another sign of emotional suffering.
Strategies for Promoting Mental Health in the Workplace
Ensuring that there is proper management of mental health issues in the workplace is crucial, particularly where the employees’ health and productivity of the business as an entity are concerned. Here are some effective strategies: Here are some effective strategies:
- Inform people and decrease prejudice
Therefore, education and training go hand in hand in ensuring that individuals, especially at the workplace, are aware of the right steps to take regarding mental health. Organised seminars and awareness programmes must be held as a part of employee training to make them aware of the issues that are related to mental health. Such sessions can include things like identifying the symptoms of mental health disorders, knowing more about specific disorders, including anxiety and depression, and realising how one can effectively manage stress. It will also enable the creation of a positive perception concerning mental health issues in organisations, thus encouraging employees to seek help when facing mental health issues.
- Provide Access to Resources
Based on the literature review, it can be stated that Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) have a very important role in the area of mental health problems. It is often about offering confidential counselling/information and advice, mental health screening, and, where necessary connecting the student with other human or academic services. The EAPs should be made known to employees, and how they can access any services should be made clear to them. Moreover, the possibility of having mental health days on the list of company leaves enables the employee to have a separate time for mental healing to enhance a healthy work-life balance.
- Encourage Supportive Cultures in the Work Places
Promoting employee well-being is a way to create a sound work environment and involves policies’ development in this sphere. Advancements in technology mean that employees can also take advantage of other forms of working arrangements accorded to them, such as working from home or altering working schedules to meet family and work commitments. Change is inevitable in organisations, and such policies should have workability procedures that will complement the general goals and objectives of the business by successfully addressing the expectations of the employees while they are in place. Also, effective measures should be taken to ensure timely workload planning in order to avoid such a situation and maintain the necessary experience level.
- Encourage Work-Life Balance
The most effective way to ensure proper mental health at work is by encouraging employees to balance work and personal lives. Making it possible for workers to take their break from work during the day and ensuring the filled annual leave is utilised reduces stress. Policies that prevent close working to the extent that an employee becomes overworked and having flexible working hours to avoid late-night messages, are some of the ways of resolving the problem. Through the practices that provide for work-life balance, the organisations prove their willingness to take care of employees’ mental state and contentment in the work environment.
- Provide Mental Health Training
Promoting employee mental health at work requires the fostering of employee coping skills with mental health to increase employees’ wellness. Providing corporate wellness initiatives such as the training of Trained Resilience Classes, stress management, and coping techniques guarantees mechanisms for identifying mental health problems beforehand. Such programmes may consist of workshops, online courses, and other materials on mindfulness as well as relaxation. Introducing and promoting the employees’ awareness of using some of the elements of mindfulness in their day-to-day lives will go a long-way in addressing stressors that affect their mental and psychological health.
- Monitor and Evaluate
Review of the impacts made by such mental health efforts require a regular and routine check to identify improvements or modifications to be made. Including feedback opportunities with regards to mental health interventions and organisational health lets employees give their insights into the matter. When the effects of such activities have been evaluated and the experience shared, it becomes easier for organisations to recommend proper action that will warrant constructive improvement of employees’ mental health and an appropriate, favourable working environment.
Conclusion
Taking care of the mental health of employees is not only unbeneficial to the employees, it also has a positive impact on the business. When managers put the outlined activities into practice, people at work end up being healthy, thus improving organizational performance. It is time to respond and build better mental health at work and create healthier corporate environments for all.
We hope this JobsBuster post will provide you with a better idea of strategies for a Healthier Workplace. If you have any questions or queries, feel free to post them in the comment section below. Our team will contact you soon.