MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS
As it is World Mental Health Day on Monday 10th October 2022, mental health awareness and support are highlighted as they are so incredibly important. The theme for this year’s World Mental Health Day is “Make mental health and well-being for all a global priority”.
The global pandemic saw many workplaces elevating their staff’s health & well-being to one of their top priorities. Over 2 years later, health & well-being remains high on the list of priorities but there has been a noticeable shift as businesses are focusing their efforts elsewhere.
According to a recent report from the CIPD it is expected that the long-term health impacts of the pandemic will be felt for years to come in the working population. Long COVID features as a cause of long-term absence for around one in four organisations (26%) and almost half (46%) of organisations have employees that have suffered from long COVID in the last 12 months. But there are still a vast number of other factors that can and will affect employee health & well-being including financial & legal issues, mental health issues, drug/alcohol/gambling addiction, long term physical health challenges, the loss of a loved one, workplace issues/conflicts and so on.
HELP & ADVICE
There are many strategies that can help and some are incredibly simple to implement. Ensuring that all employees have access to a list of free listening services that offer confidential support from trained volunteers can provide a genuine lifeline to those that do not have anywhere else to turn or do not feel comfortable speaking with those that they know.
- Call 116 123 to talk to Samaritans, or email: jo@samaritans.org for a reply within 24 hours
- Text “SHOUT” to 85258 to contact the Shout Crisis Text Line, or text “YM” if under 19
- If under 19, Childline can be reached on 0800 1111. The number will not appear on the phone bill
If the business is in a position to, offering support from trained professionals that often sit outside of your own organisation is hugely beneficial to reduce the impact on both the employee and their work. Happy, healthy workforces are more productive, creative and motivated and are the they key to high performing and successful businesses.
MAKE IT AN EVERYDAY THING
Sometimes when individuals are facing particular life challenges, they can feel vulnerable and may feel like any offers of help and support are directed at them with an ulterior motive. Even though that is not necessarily the intention, it can make it difficult to offer the right support at the right time.
If it is part of everyday business to have resources available and to offer some support relating to a variety of topics by using national wellbeing calendar events and campaigns it will help to raise awareness and remove the stigma that can be attached to seeking and utilising any help that is on offer.
Encouraging employees to try taking on a new responsibility or challenge (providing it is at the right time) can actually help to improve mental wellbeing. Mentoring a junior colleague could potentially help benefit two employees at the same time, if the ‘fit’ is right!
There are many free to download calendars and resources available, so making it an everyday thing doesn’t have to take up a huge amount of time, resources or funds.
SIMPLE WAYS TO HELP
Other simple ways to help boost health & well-being include setting up individual meetings to help employees work towards long-term goals, setting inclusive business fitness challenges, offering discounted gym memberships and/or free access to meditation apps and employee get-togethers.
Encouraging employees to take a genuine break from work and have a cup of tea away from their work station and offering access to healthy snacks/refreshments can be really beneficial.
Celebrating and appreciating length of service or the completion of challenging projects with a genuine ‘thank you’ boosts morale and incentivises employees to deliver.
Enabling open and regular dialogues between managers and employees, offering flexible working and engaging with the team to ask them what they would like in wellbeing workshops or simple surveys and then actioning requests that make sense to both the business and employees will demonstrate that they are working for a business that listens and actions too.
