Mental Health at workplace: 5 things that organizations should not take for granted

With the pandemic changing the way we work and interact with our peers, it has become increasingly important to magnify our attention towards our people. I believe that it is vital for employees to focus on all three aspects of life - mental, physical and emotional. Organizations must adapt and change how they’re working, as employees are now shaping workplaces. 

In my 17 years of experience in nurturing employee relations, I have come to realise that interventions focussing solely on changing individual behaviour are not particularly effective, either for employees or for companies. They need to be supplemented with organisational measures addressing the potential sources of stress in and outside the working environment. 

Here are five things that I have learnt not to take for granted and I hope they are of some help to you too:

1. Resist yourself from normalizing isolation; find the opportunity to physically engage and socialise: Working face-to-face with teams has a different effect on us versus working in isolation. Organizations must encourage the importance of working together and find ways to bring people back at their own will. After many months of remote working, this will definitely rebuild motivation to work, team spirit, and increase productivity. In fact, the Linkedin ‘Future of Work’ Study 2021 shows 9 in 10 professionals believe hybrid work is essential for a healthy work-life balance. 
2. Don’t let people come and leave in silence, let’s celebrate them: With working remotely, we often tend to take our colleagues for granted. Employees working in isolation may not even realise that a close colleague has left the organisation for instance, and this is not ideal. At the same time, new colleagues are in need of that reassurance that they are just as much a part of their new organisation as existing employees. This can be achieved when people within the organisation interact and socialise across teams (beyond work), and value each other.
3. Stop feeling like the world’s responsibility is on your shoulders: Organizations must realise that the ability to perform is dependent on an employee’s physical, emotional and mental state. While working in isolation, we tend to develop a one-track vision where we feel unnaturally responsible and accountable for every small task. We gradually tend to lose the vision of a “team” and shared goals. This can aggravate stress, exhaustion, perceived work pressure and other mental health issues. Thus, it is crucial for employers to talk about the stress and burnout their employees feel and support them with necessary resources and professional help. Encourage employees to build a strong circle of influence, find inspiration from people around, take time out to relax, unwind and spend quality time away from work. 
4. Don’t just expect people to be sensible and empathetic, let’s train them with people skills: While employees have started realising the prerogative to address mental health sensibly, people may not necessarily have the right training to do so. An angry boss, an insensitive colleague or a hurtful comment can cause major damages to teams and individuals. Something as simple as a way of talking or an email read after working hours can cause stress, and anxiety. Hence, every employee across the board should be well-sensitized and trained to be sensitive, empathetic and understanding. This includes identifying triggers, acceptable behaviours and communication with colleagues, knowing the tools and resources, to successfully promote a mentally healthy workforce. 
5. Stop looking at wellness as temporary, let it be a lifestyle: Wellness takes a combination of physical, mental and emotional wellbeing. In our regular lifestyles, our mind is in multiple places at once while our bodies are probably not as actively moving, we’re skipping meals, sleeping late and what not. We shouldn’t underestimate long-term healthy lifestyle choices and encourage people to adopt yoga, meditation and other forms of physical activities that can allow them to bring a sense of calm and balance in their lives. 

Today, we’re living in an unequal world; generalised solutions and benefits that worked well before will no longer make sense at workplaces for the mere reason that every employee is now juggling unique lifestyles. As we move forward, organisations must relook at their policies to make the employee experience more personalised with empathy at the core. Beyond just offering holidays and fun activities, the time has come for organisations to become truly people-centric; we need to empower and support our people to become stronger physically, mentally and emotionally.