Promoting Better Mental Health in the Workplace

The first principle of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success and a key focus is Health and Wellness. Creating a healthy workplace for our employees is critical. Mental health is particularly important. The greater the better the mental health of your employees, the more productive they’ll be. The following contributed post is therefore entitled, Promoting Better Mental Health in the Workplace.

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The way your employees feel when they are at work con Impact on your business. It can affect productivity, communications and safety issues. Promoting a good atmosphere for them to work in will help with a good mental attitude in the workplace, and as an employer, you should be taking steps to make sure this is the case for your staff.

If you fail to do so, depression and anxiety could mean a lot of extra sick days, which will make your business less successful and harder to run. Your employees can be your most valuable assets and investing in them is vitally important for the future of your business.

Create A Healthy Workplace

This is easy to do by sometimes making just a few simple adjustments to your workplace and the way you treat your employees. Make sure that the environment they are in is a healthy temperature and that the air is fresh, Just these two things are a great start to making them feel better about themselves.

Do not expect them to work all day in your workplace and then go home and do even more work. Most people spend about one-third of their life in work and that is long enough. Expecting them to work a 60-hour week or to deal with emails and queries from home is not only unfair, but it will also make them feel discontented and that their efforts while at work are not appreciated.

Make sure they take their breaks and have somewhere that they can socialize for them. Some social interaction is a great way of relieving stress and they will return to their workstations more alert and ready to work.

Some experts, including Cynthia Telles of Kaiser Permanente, have spent years researching and dealing with these matters, and their opinions are very highly respected. She has been involved in several programs that aimed to improve the mental health of employees in all walks of life.

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Help Employees Identify Mental Health Problems

It is thought that in the US, one in four employees suffers from mental health problems to some degree and that most of them suffer in silence. This is in part because many of them do not recognize the cause of their problem and think it because of aging, the menopause or any one of a number of other things. Some workers think it is normal to feel this way and you need to help them identify when the way they are felling is not part of normal stress.

Helping them to recognize the symptoms and the triggers is one of the most effective things an employer can do for their workforce. You could invite a mental health expert to your business to give them a talk on what to look for and how to deal with it. There are confidential mental health screenings available and sometimes a questionnaire about their habits and symptoms can be very enlightening for someone that has been trained in these matters. There are also free online screening tools that you could encourage them to use.

The whole point is that a happy workforce will be more productive and produce a better quality of work. The time taken to ensure that none of your employees are suffering from mental health problems because of their job, or that none happen in the future, could save you a lot of time, effort and money ion the long run.

Assist Them With Their Treatments

Most mental health issues are very treatable, but they may need some time to seek the help they need. Letting them leave work for weekly therapy sessions that are during business hours for example, could prevent that employ from being off work long-term while they are treated.

Most employers would not have a qualm in calling for help if an employee becomes physically ill while they are at work, but those same bosses will totally ignore mental health issues. There is still something of a stigma attached to mental health problems, but many of them could have been prevented to start with. To the sufferer, they are just as bad and sometimes worse, than a physical illness and they deserve the same care and attention as someone who is having a heart attack while sitting at their desk.

If you any idea that a member of your staff may be becoming depressed or anxious while they are at work, speak with them or get someone else trusted to, and suggest that they seek treatment before it gets even worse.

Six Ways To Handle Workplace Stress

Two of the key focuses of my blog are Career Discussions and Health and Wellness. Regardless of which career you’re in, the workplace can cause you quite a bit of stress if you’re not careful. It therefore becomes critical to understand how to manage it if and when you get into a position where the workplace is impacting your quality of life. The following contributed post is thus entitled, Six Ways To Handle Workplace Stress.

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We’ve all woken up in the morning and dreaded heading to the office at least once in our lives. Whether it’s because deadlines are looming, the traffic on the commute is getting worse and making you late, or the fact you’ve been passed over the promotion yet again, it’s all tough when it comes to the workplace. Stress is one of the hardest things to cope with, because trying to manage the stress can be difficult when you’re also trying to keep up the momentum with your boss on your back.

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It’s important to try to overcome stress in the workplace, though, because without trying, you’re not going to get anywhere, ending up more stressed than you were already. So, whether you start advance checking for traffic and road closures, or you hold a meeting to ask about that promotion from the higher ups, you need to start thinking of ways to reduce stress. Below, we’ve got six ways to do just that, without you needing to lose it.

Fresh Air. Going for a short walk during the work day can make a real difference. Whether you go on your lunch break or you head out quickly for a coffee, you really need to think about that fresh air. Offices are notoriously stuffy and breathing in recycled air is not the most fun way to spend the day. If you feel your tension rising, get out for fresh air
and get a little exercise with a walk.
Have A Stretch. Whether you get up or not, stretch your body. Sitting down for a long time can cause a lot of pressure on your back, and prolonged sitting can really place a lot of stress on the body as a whole. Every hour at least, get up and stretch. It doesn’t matter if it looks weird, it can allow you to keep concentrating on your work and not feel wound up.
It’s A Mental State. Stress is all in the mind. It may manifest physically for a lot of people, but it starts in your head. You can simply put on a meditation app and relax for a few minutes, concentrating on your breathing and slowing your heart. It’s in the mind, and the mind can be controlled; remember that.
Divert Your Focus. At work, the pressure is on. If you start to feel closed in, start helping someone else for a moment. A problem shared is a problem halved, and then ask them for some guidance on your issue. Even if all you do is open the door for someone else when they’re coming through, it’s helpful and it can take your mind off your stress.
Dance It Out. Head to the roof space, the bathroom, anywhere private. Put your favourite song on your headphones and dance madly. Blast out the energy and the jitters at the same time, and release your stress that way.

No one needs to feel pressured, hurt or put upon by their workplace. With a little help, you can dispel the stress as fast as possible.