Why mental health has to be part of a wider workplace approach

With those with mental health issues making up an estimated 15.9% of those in employment - mental health is very much a workplace issue.

Of course, the workplace itself can be both a trigger for mental health problems, a source of great stress and anxiety, as well as a tonic, with 86% of people believing that their job and being at work is important to protecting and maintaining their mental health.

Interestingly, the focus of the Mental Health Foundation’s ‘Added Value: Mental health as a workplace asset’ report, released for Mental Health Week, is one of productivity - and specifically that ‘recognising, valuing, improving and protecting mental wellbeing in the workplace makes good business sense.’

In truth, the reality for each and every one of our employees when they show up for work tomorrow is that how they are feeling, i.e. their mental and emotional state, is just one of a myriad of interconnected elements that will determine their productivity and how well they will perform.

Many of you will have caught the ‘Mind Over Marathon’ programme aired during the last couple of weeks - underlining the power of the physical to manage the mental. Exercise is just one element of this, with sleep and nutrition other key elements of positive physiological management to promote a well, productive employee.

I’d suggest that, in the context of the workplace, there are also a number of other critical elements that contribute to how well our people are equipped to bring the best of themselves to the workplace each day. As well as mental/ emotional and physiological management, these include personal motivation (what’s my personal goal and how will I achieve it), aptitude to retain focus (in our world of distraction), attitudes towards personal growth (how am I being helped to grow) and more.

Mental health is universal and can affect anyone at any time, regardless of age, seniority or job role. However, one particular group that is often seen as high risk is an organisation’s high performers. They're usually the ones who apply themselves furiously to have the great ideas,  who get up at stupid o’clock to get on a plane or train and who generally go over and above to meet deadlines and get the job done.

In short, these high performers can be a burning platform for burnout itself, if not supported in the right way - but it’s not about isolated mental health support for me, it’s about a much richer, more rounded approach to personal fulfilment, emotional and physiological management and ultimately, personal performance management.  

Today’s workplaces are more complex and challenging than they have ever been with change the norm, piling pressures and a constant battle to do more with less. Ultimately, they demand an ability to manage stress in new and difficult environments and a higher level of personal resilience than ever before.

Equipping our employees to be well and productive in this context is much wider than a mental health issue - it’s about an individually owned, rounded approach to personal management including the mental/ emotional, the physiological and the attitudinal.

Mental Health Week is a great reminder of our collective responsibility as organisations, people managers, colleagues and human beings to look out for one another - in a multitude of different ways.  

www.theculturebuilders.com

Data and image source - Mental Health Foundation 'Added Value: mental health as a workplace asset' report, 2017