Tax Q & A for Small Business Owners
- May 14
- 9min read
Mental health issues among employees are a major productivity killer. A couple of reports by two prominent organizations would throw more light on this. As per WHO, the last decade has seen a 13% increase in mental health conditions worldwide. And another report by ‘United for Global Mental Health’ 2020 states that there is nearly a $1 trillion loss to the global economy annually owing to depression and anxiety.
The biggest trigger that impacts mental (and also physical to a considerable extent) health negatively is stress – and the workplace could be a significant source of it.
Thus, organizations have begun to focus on mental health programs, not just as an additional set of activities but as a measure to improve work output and profitability. The following are five ways you can adopt to promote mental well-being among employees:
Developing Awareness about Mental Health
The first step toward helping people who could be at risk of bad mental health is to help them understand how they can assess their symptoms. Moreover, organizations also will need to develop an atmosphere where conversations around mental health do not attract stigma. This could involve organizing interactive events with industry experts on stress management and mental self-care.
Encourage Employees to Take Time Off
As per a 2021 survey by the Global Organization of Stress, around 4 in 5 people feel stressed at work. And as seen before, it is natural that this would lead to lower productivity. And therefore, it is essential that organizations encourage employees to take short breaks from work (maybe plan daily timetables to accommodate such breaks) and also to go on short vacations every few months to rejuvenate themselves.
Offer Regular Recognition
One of the significant sources of stress among employees is the lack of recognition for their contribution. This is because an employee who has put in hard work is bound to want to see their work rewarded. If this does not happen, they will experience feelings of worthlessness. To avoid this, organizations could devise their appraisals mechanism to include frequent contribution assessments and offer periodic bonuses. Moreover, giving employees occasional non-monetary tokens of appreciation such as ‘Employee of the Month’ awards can also provide employees a source of inspiration.
Organize interactive events
Professionals spend 8 hours (almost half of their active daily hours) at the workplace. Given that humans are social animals, the quality of social interactions at work goes a long way in determining how satisfied or unhappy they would be. Therefore, organizations must organize frequent team-bonding activities, including playing games, exchanging ideas, or having outbound trips.
Promote health and fitness
One cannot ignore the importance of good physical health on mental well-being. Employers may offer free/subsidized memberships to fitness clubs or gyms. Regular exercise could enable employees to experience the daily endorphin boost, which will keep them cheerful in the workplace. Moreover, employees would have fitness goals as a health topic to discuss during off-work hours, and such talks will motivate each other to work harder towards such goals. Thus, you would have a much fitter workforce (both physically and mentally).
With the above tips, you can expect your employees to demonstrate a much healthier mental frame of mind, thus making them far more productive at the workplace. Moreover, happier employees will collectively be more comfortable in a happier workplace, and very few would want to quit working for such an employer.
