This is sometimes a missing piece regarding mental health and work. It’s not just the people who work for you, it’s the people who work for you with kids or other family members dealing with mental health issues. “Why do employers need to take a leadership role in addressing this crisis? For starters, young people…
They also point out that whether being lonely causes that change or whether that DNA change makes someone more likely to feel lonely is unclear. What is clear, though, is that helping someone feel less lonely is a worthwhile goal. Helping someone feel like they are part of a community and have something to offer that community helps them. It’s one of the keys to suicide prevention too.
If work gets in the way of this happening, if abusive relationships or stigma get in the way, it can have fatal consequences.
As we consider what the future of our workplaces should be, we’d do well to remember that our people have lives outside of work and are better off when they can enjoy the people in their lives outside of work.
Something to check out. Mental Health America’s new Mind the Workplace 2022 Report: An Employer’s Responsibility to Employee Mental Health seeks to answer the latest question on business leaders’ minds: “How can employers meaningfully support employee mental health in 2022?” Data in the report comes from the Work Health Survey, which measured the perceptions of…
It’s from Australia, but the part that I have looked at so far could be useful for everyone trying to figure out how to build and maintain a workplace that supports mental health. (Check your local laws, though, as the legal references are obviously related to Australian workplace safety rules)
You cannot claim to care about the people who work for you, and not even check in on their well-being. Those two things do not go together at all. We have to get to that very minimum level before we can do more, and if we can’t even be bothered to get there, I see no reason why anyone with a choice would want to continue working for you.
One way that I can see this being helpful that wouldn’t require much effort at all is to have a group of people who have been in touch with your EAP and navigated the maze that it can be, available to talk with other employees and assist them with that process. That can be the simplest, and yet most effective, way to start peer-to-peer support. There is much more that can be offered but if you’re struggling to know where to start, that can be one option.
However, to even get there we need to stop the secrecy, shame, and stigma surrounding mental health.