Practical advice for supporting Mental Well-being at Work
May is mental health month. The events calendar is full of theme days, weeks months. Why? Well, in order to promote awareness, cultural change and to myth-bust.
A fear of admitting that “I cannot cope” the stigma attached to “breaking down” – surely there is now greater awareness about Mental Health!
But this week, multiple surveys show that most employees wouldn’t talk to their employer about their concerns.
As a forward-thinking employer, wanting to do things in the right way and protecting your business interests, you have probably put some things in place, developed some policies and perhaps even trained some staff.
Training is available for managers. Companies are establishing mental first aiders.
But what’s the point if there is no discussion?
As a busy manager or owner you might be thinking…
I haven’t got time for this,
I wouldn’t know where to start,
it’s personal and private, isn’t it?
these things sort themselves out in the end, won’t they?
I get it. I really do.
As a manager or business owner over the last couple of years you might well be thinking, “well, who’s looking after my well-being, my interests, my health…?
Some Reasons to act
It is highly likely that at some point in time you or members of your team will be significantly impacted by life!
It can happen to anyone – your ‘good’ people are not immune:
life disruptions can happen at any time, without warning
stuff outside of work, can and will, impair concentration, energy, and likely, performance.
This is all a barrier to: productivity, excellence and effective team working.
It leads to absence, mistakes, lost time, poor working relationships, friction and tension within your team with a greater chance of even ending the working relationship.
So, what can I do?
Some practical steps:
Create a space where people can talk
return to work interviews after absence
if you’re not the go-to person, make sure there is a dedicated person who is
decide ahead of time what you and your business can do to support employees
have access to and use a template discussion document such as 9 questions supporting employees
Look out for the signs or any changing behaviours:
dips in performance
mistakes or simple errors
loss of temper or irritability
being away from the desk or the workplace
preoccupied with text messages or phone calls
being withdrawn
Consider homeworkers
Whether by design or necessity work patterns may have changed – this is not for everyone. The changing behaviours above may not be so apparent for home-workers.
consider social break outs for online meetings
onboarding new staff needs special attention
Acknowledge known life events
…relationship breakdown, partner ill-health, concerns about children’s education,
care for elderly relatives, living with a teenager (or returning young adult!),
awaiting healthcare or results of tests, miscarriage, the loss of a loved one.#
We often know about our colleagues and what they are going through. It isn’t surprising that life throws up challenges.
But do we ignore or acknowledge this?
There is real power when an employee can be heard or acknowledged in relation to their situation. For an employee knowing that life does not need to be hidden from their boss can be a huge stress reliever.
Reality: many employees feel isolated, alone or even ashamed that they are struggling.
Providing Support
Right now, financial well-being is the headline topic.
Would you want one of your employees to get into debt with a loan shark, payday loan company or the trending apps freely offering credit at 29.9% APR!
A car repair, a washing machine breakdown, child’s birthday or school uniform.
Any unexpected bill.
1.5 million households are faced with being unable to pay for gas and electric out of disposable income.
What could it mean for your employees to be supported with perhaps a pay advance or interest-free loan, perhaps over 2 or 3 month’s pay? Your business has the power to make the difference.
Finally, this week I made a discovery. It is possible for an employer with 1 to 57 employees to buy in help and support for every member of staff.
I thought these programmes were for Large co, and not viable for smaller businesses.
However, for a single annual premium of £500 Health Assured offer an employee assistance programme covering up to 57 employees. That means your employees can get help and assistance as and when they need it on a wide range of concerns and problems.
The headline for me: if your employee goes to their GP and they cannot cope, the only tool in the bag is medication and a 6 month wait for counselling. An employee assistance programme will allow many many more options. And as for counselling, any of your employees can have access all within a fixed premium.
The employee gets the support they need, when they need it.
As a for your business, you are not doing it alone.
RBA supports many clients in the 1-57 employee category. Our clients tell us that our expert advice provided through a dedicated named contact gives them exactly what they need when they need it.
If you require further information on mental health in the workplace, the essential discussions to have with your employees, how to implement return to work policies was set up a mental health first aid scheme – then why not arrange a FREE NO OBLIGATION Discovery Call with us today.
If you’re thinking of making pay advances or setting up loans. You need to be putting in some contractual agreements to allow you to make deductions from pay.
As a thank you for reading this email today – Here is our FREE framework document.
If you would like details of our training course – THE ESSENTIAL DISCUSSIONS – please contact us to register your interest.
Finally, if you’ve never thought of an employee assistance programme before but would like to know more, RBA have access to preferential rates with Health Assured. For more details click on the link.
Thank you for taking time to read this post. We hope you found it useful.
Rob Bryan
www.robbryanassociates.org.uk
Rob Bryan Associates Blog 