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Burned out. Stressed. Overwhelmed. These are just some of the ways team members might describe an underlying mental health concern.
Since the start of the pandemic, mental health challenges have skyrocketed and companies are seeing the impact. Whether it is higher than average PTO days, lower productivity, a decrease in employee engagement or a high turnover rate, mental health has taken its toll on our teams in a number of ways. Because of this, companies need to be armed with a full toolbox to combat this emerging epidemic amongst their teams.
"Leaders now need to be aware of the wellbeing of their team members beyond sniffling and sneezing. These are silent illnesses that many keep hidden out of fear of judgment."
Here are our top 5 recommendations to include in your company's mental health and wellness strategy:
1. Train managers to recognize warning signs
Leaders are held accountable for their team's performance. KPIs, goals and targets are hanging above their heads and any alteration in a team member's performance puts it all at risk. Given this pressure, the lens in which many managers view common mental health warning signs is skewed and often leads to ineffective management methods, overlooking the core issue(s). Thankfully, there are several mental health training programs emerging for leadership teams to expand their knowledge and awareness of how mental health impacts their workplaces.
Our top picks:
2. Consider adding a comprehensive wellness plan to your benefit portfolio
Access to adequate mental health and wellness resources is half of the battle. In 2022, waiting lists reached a record high for in-person therapy, some as long as two years or more. Medication shortages for conditions like ADHD threw another curveball in care management. Though workplaces cannot solve all of the problems plaguing mental health, they can provide resources to make the navigation of these issues easier.
Our recommendations:
Select health plans that include virtual mental health care management. Telehealth can be the difference between waiting two years and being seen within a matter of days.
Partner with organizations like Headspace or Calm that allow access to hundreds of mindfulness exercises centered around mental health.
Think outside of the box when it comes to company perks: consider adding wellness gift options to your recognition program or reimbursement of gym memberships!
3. Encourage consistent feedback on core indicators: happiness scores, burnout, emotion scales, etc.
Gaining frequent feedback on the pulse of the organization is incredibly important - especially when the workforce is fully remote. Questions should be quick, easy to answer and anonymous for peak transparency. Several SAAS companies have sprung up to make the process of obtaining feedback easier to administer, including question banks and industry benchmarks built into their automated process.
Our top three organizations to partner with:
4. Foster a human-centric culture & make it fun!
The goal of any company culture should be to create a space where everyone feels they are able to bring their entire selves to work. A sense of belonging and support is important to combatting the mental health crisis. Here at Culture on Camera, we highlight hundreds of ways companies and leaders can create connections throughout their remote teams. Today, we are selecting our top wellness and health-oriented activities of 2022.
Our favorites:
Wellable: This organization has thought of a way to incorporate various elements of holistic wellbeing and transform them into fun competitions (both individual and team-oriented). Office step challenges are a thing of the past. Wellable has a challenge library filled with themed focus areas such as nutrition, sleep, stress, financial wellness and of course, fitness.
Confetti: It is hard to beat Confetti's expertise in all things remote employee engagement. This month, they are featuring Mental Health activities that range from meditation classes to interactive workshops - the perfect blend of fun & awareness!
5. Set healthy standards & boundaries as an organization. Be flexible.
Companies need to be keenly aware of the example their senior leaders make in their working habits. Working all hours of the day, never shutting down, emailing and pinging direct reports well into the night and rarely taking time off will set an unhealthy standard leading to mass burnout. Organizations need to establish routines that are supportive and flexible - and everyone must follow them in order to maintain their credibility.
Our recommendations:
Schedule emails to be sent at reasonable hours of the day. If you catch yourself up late working, that does not mean you have to interrupt a team member's off-hours (in non-emergency situations). Almost all email providers have this built-in functionality.
Encourage the use of PTO for recharging the batteries. Staycations are just as important as vacations.
Monitor workload to prevent burnout. Though your company may not want to spend the extra dollars for another FTE, it is not sustainable to force one employee to do four roles. Attrition is always more expensive than added resources.
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