11 Ways Managers Can Positively Impact Employee Mental Health
Understanding how a business can best support its employees' mental health has evolved drastically in the past decades. Mental health is a growing workplace concern, with the related indirect impact to businesses estimated at $79 billion lost to poor productivity and absent employees.
These are essential areas of concern for leadership teams looking to build a strong company culture, improve retention and increase revenue. Here are 11 ways managers can support mental health and create a safe and transparent culture:
1.Value Your Employee’s Time
Now that employees are back in the office, in hybrid working environments, or still working remotely, it’s critical that managers consider each employee’s time and make sure that the meetings they schedule are worthwhile—and that they aren’t canceled at the last minute. People’s time is valuable. Show employees you understand that.
2. Talk Less, Listen More
Great managers must master the art of listening. Sure, they want to inspire and motivate, but they need to listen first. Employees who know their managers will actively listen and help them work toward personal success will naturally become motivated and inspired to succeed.
3.Practice Transparency
From a mental health perspective, agendaless meetings create pointless stress and strain on employees. Few people enjoy the feeling of being completely unprepared and not knowing what they’re walking into, so be transparent and let your employees know what to expect.
4. Create a Safe Space
Anyone can tell you the phrase “We need to talk” immediately leads to a spike in heart rate. A mysterious “Hey” Slack from your manager—only to be followed by long minutes of radio silence—is the workplace equivalent of those words.
Within the current discussion around workplace mental health issues, it’s well-established that employees are under stress and burned out. So why add needless anxiety by being vague?
5.Treat Employees Like Insiders
Too often, managers keep impactful news from their employees, whether it’s to protect them or to protect their own egos. Either way, this can cause employees to feel like outsiders, which could be a gateway to them leaving their companies. Managers need to make sure their employees feel included and part of the team.
6.Empower Employees to Manage Themselves
The key is to communicate with employees and figure out a win-win arrangement that’s flexible and keeps your business moving.
7. Trust That Your Employees Sometimes Know Better Than You Do
Empower your teams by asking questions, relying on their expertise, and integrating it into internal best practices. This takes courage (managers may worry about appearing uninformed), but it creates an environment of trust, mutual respect, and collaboration, which are all essential ingredients for an emotionally healthy workplace.
8.Encourage Support and Teamwork
Employees who feel they belong tend to be more engaged, productive, and satisfied with their work. And that can translate into tangible bottom-line benefits.
9.Give Credit Where It’s Due
It is a reminder to managers that they need to acknowledge employees for their contributions. When employees shine, they tend to feel more empowered and motivated. And as a result, their managers shine as well.
10. Talk About Mental Health
Tearing down stigmas is arguably the most important thing any manager can do to promote mental health. Leaders often encourage physical health with their teams, broadly letting people know it's okay to take care of illnesses and needs as they arise, and they should not be afraid to do the same with mental health.
11. Create Opportunities for Employees to Destress
Leaders should encourage employees to take their earned vacation or paid time off (PTO) and create an environment where there is no guilt associated with requests for time off. In addition, managers could also consider organizing recreational team events and group service opportunities for employees to connect outside of the office environment.
Encouraging mental health and stress relief is not the same thing as discouraging hard work. By changing the paradigm and enabling people at all levels of an organization to disconnect when away from work, companies can engender high levels of engagement and job satisfaction.
References:
https://www.wellright.com/blog/how-managers-positively-impact-employee-mental-health