Studies show that 1 in 7 people experience mental health issues in the workplace (14.7%).
- Women in full-time employment are nearly twice as likely to have a common mental health problem as full-time employed men (8% vs 10.9%).
- Evidence suggests that 7% of all sickness absence days in the UK can be attributed to mental health conditions.
Source: https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/statistics/mental-health-statistics-mental-health-work
Poor mental health and stress can negatively affect employees:
- Job performance and productivity
- Employee Engagement in their role
- Communication with coworkers and management
- Physical capability and daily functioning
- Ability to remember tasks and duties
What are the signs of employee poor mental health?
- Changes in mood, these can be unexpected
- Sudden Lack of communication with co-workers
- A drop-in work rate, missing deadlines and deliverables
- Trouble focusing, this could take many forms including asking repetitive questions
- Poor memory associated with work tasks
- Anxious and fidgety behaviour
It is important to take into account that symptoms and signs vary among individuals and that what might work for one employee might not work for another. With this being said, here is what you can do to help your employees.
Organizations can help tackle mental health issues by:
- Improving Communication techniques that are already in place.
- Centralizing the creation of Projects and Strategies from one team
- Supporting Mental Health awareness in Social Networks
- Implementing Incentives to reinforce healthy behaviours.
- Appreciating Employee efforts and listening to their feedback
- Assigning employees to a role that they are comfortable with
- Train managers to act like leaders and be engaging in the workplace
- Encouraging work and life balance
- Developing mental health policies
- Monitoring overall employee engagement
In conclusion, the next big step for organizations is to recognize mental health as a prominent factor for employee motivation and invest in training, appropriate changes and internal mental health recognition programs.