Mental health awareness is steadily increasing as society becomes more attuned to the silent struggles faced by many in the workplace and beyond. Yet for younger generations, it isn’t enough for employers to understand mental health, there need to be systems in place to reduce the risk of burnout and support mental health at work.

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The Mental Health Foundation in the UK reports that 1 in 6.8 people (14.7%) of people experience mental health problems at work.

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With the rising demand for mental health support, including overwhelming support for mental health days, it’s time to provide robust mental health support in the workplace.

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1. Promote a Culture of Transparency 

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One of the most significant obstacles to a healthy workplace is a culture of exclusivity and close-mindedness. 

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Picture this: You show up to work every day and give it your all in spite of the toll the pandemic and personal issues have taken on you recently. One day, you overhear your boss make a comment about how everyone should ‘just get on with it’, clearly oblivious to mental health issues and the impact they can have. 

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For many employees, this is a common scenario. The workplace feels far from being a safe place as they fear judgment if they express the challenges they’re having with work due to mental health issues. They worry that a comment they make might make it back to their boss, who will be largely unsympathetic and fire them on the spot.

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Of course, this isn’t the case in every workplace, but it is true that there’s still a stigma surrounding mental health. One which makes it nigh-on impossible for those who suffer to feel comfortable enough to express the difficulties they’re having at work.

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The solution?

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Break down the stigma around mental health issues. 

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Encourage your team to talk to you - Establish from day one that your team members should feel free to come to you with any issues they have - even if they feel like they’re not important or directly work-related.

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Open up about your experience - If you yourself suffer from mental health issues, the best thing you can do - if you’re comfortable doing so - is open up about how it impacts your work life. While this may be daunting, it’s one of the best ways to rid the workplace of the stigma, as team members who experience mental health issues will know that they’re not alone - and they’ll feel safe talking to you about their experiences.

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Bring up the topic with senior leadership - If you occupy a position of leadership, then you can use your voice to speak up for everyone in the company that experiences mental health issues. Raise the issue at your next meeting, and brainstorm how you can better support mental health in the workplace.

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2. Create Meaningful Connections 

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Creating meaningful connections is a pillar stone of a healthy work environment, so here are some ways to go about that in your workplace:

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Promote a Sense of Community

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We all crave community in some sense as social beings, and this is even more true if we work remotely and don’t have much contact with others.

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Even in a virtual work environment, there are steps you can take to promote a sense of community.

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Here are some ideas for just that:

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• Host weekly virtual events such as quizzes or virtual escape room experiences
• Create a casual/non-work-related chat channel in your Slack 
• Implement a hybrid work model so employees can see each other at the office

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Implement Regular Check-ins

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If weeks go by without check-ins, how do you know if your team members are struggling or thriving?

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All you have to go on is productivity and output, and while these can be early indicators that something isn’t right, it’s best to be proactive before burnout becomes a reality.

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A simple solution is to set up regular check-ins - once a week is often enough - in which you sit down (physically or virtually) with your team members one by one and find out how they’re doing. 

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Here are some questions you can ask in your check-ins:

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• How are you? (more on this later)
• Do you feel comfortable with your current workload?
• What excites you about work recently?

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The Power of ‘How Are You?’

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One of the best ways to create meaningful connections is to look at a question we ask our coworkers and friends every time we see them: how are you?

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It’s likely that you often ask this simple question that has the potential to drive real connection in an offhand manner, only really expecting a halfhearted answer. Instead, the next time you ask the question, use it to connect with the other person on a deeper level.

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Of course, if they’re not comfortable opening up, that’s fine, but if the opportunity is there for further conversation - explore it. Ask your coworkers and team members how things are going for them right now, and then sit back and listen.

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3. Encourage Flexibility to Support Work-Life Balance

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One of the major gripes younger generations have right now is that a lack of work-life balance is causing a knock-on effect on their mental health. When you feel as if you devote nearly all of your time and energy to work, even if you enjoy it, it can take a significant toll.

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As such, if you can support flexible work arrangements (with employee supervision) in your company then it’s something you should consider. 

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When you take steps to accommodate work-life balance for your employees and implement a healthy staff monitoring policy, you communicate to them that work doesn’t have to be everything to them. 

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While you may want your employees to give everything in their work, ask yourself this:

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What’s left to give if an employee feels trapped in their work and unable to decompress and deal with the challenges of mental health issues?

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One of the best ways to support a flexible work arrangement and empower employees with autonomy is to use a work monitoring tool. 

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Use Insightful to Support Employee Wellbeing

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When you bring remote tracking and Insightful reports into the fold at your workplace, you have a reliable way of reviewing employee performance, and as such, you can give them more freedom without sacrificing transparency.

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In a virtual work environment, employees can easily feel disconnected, isolated, and ultimately disengaged. All of these are factors that affect productivity in the workplace, but more importantly, contribute to employee burnout.

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That’s why it helps to have workforce optimization tools that give you a way of identifying trends in output, so you can be proactive and spot signs of burnout before it’s too late.

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If you’re wondering how to monitor work performance ethically, you can share time data and reports with Insightful. Recently voted best remote user monitoring software in 2022 for privacy and transparency, Insightful empowers employees and boosts accountability.

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Insightful also allows you to see exactly what’s on each employee’s plate, so you can make adjustments based on your check-ins with each team member. If you know that a team member is struggling with an ever-increasing workload, you can use Insightful to monitor the impact of reducing that workload.

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