Because if my value to my team is only a factor of productivity versus cost, and not as a human being, why should I put my own mental wellbeing at risk for you?
That makes no sense, and we are seeing more and more people recognize this fact. Either figure out how to support the human beings who work for you, or stop hiring them.
At least that way you aren’t actively harming anyone with your job.
As a manager, you are in the best position to notice, and help directs when they are struggling with mental health. Unfortunately, I’m also betting that any business management, or leadership, classes you’ve taken never mentioned mental health, let alone taught you much about it.
The bottom line, if you make a mental health benefit available, and then culturally reward the people who never take any time to use it, the app will not get used by the people who most need it. Your culture matters much more than your benefits package.
I’m glad to see companies seeing this as an issue for themselves, and not just an “outside of work” thing. On the other hand, when we talk about it in these terms, I think I can see part of the reason that there is still so much stigma attached to the idea of getting help for mental health issues.
This is really the big question many of us have, and rightfully so. Hopefully, your workplace is smart enough to encourage you to disconnect during off hours, or take care of your mental health needs, and speak up if you’re feeling burned out. But, what do we do if that same employer also rewards the folks who don’t do any of that? How does an employee keep up healthy boundaries and not get left behind in their career when they watch the peers who work all hours of the day/night, never disconnect, and work in an absolutely non-sustainable way are praised for their “grit and commitment”, and maybe even promoted over folks who work harder at maintaining a sustainable work-life balance?
In the end, maybe that’s the take away I would want any manager to have. That each of your employees is an individual, with individual issues in their own lives in and out of work. Don’t assume you know, and don’t assume they are all OK. Consider some of the larger points about how you can contribute in a positive way to support your employees.
After all, you can either do what you can to help, and keep them with you, or lose them when they realize that the job that does nothing but cause additional stress, with no support, isn’t worth their mental health.