We are in the midst of a mental health crisis. Recent research has shown that poor mental well-being is now the primary reason for employees taking long-term sick leave (Deloitte), and the financial impact that this is having on businesses is huge. A study by the American Institute of Stress found that factors directly relating to stress, such as absenteeism, turnover, reduced productivity and more, resulted in a total economic impact of $300 billion to U.S. employers.
 

The time is now to take a proactive approach to mental well-being; the return on investment (ROI) can be massive, not only for the well-being of your staff but also for your wider business results more broadly, too.

Knowing where to start can be the biggest challenge. The most important first step is to listen to your staff and begin an open dialogue with them about stress. Take the time to really understand your employees and where they feel pressure alongside excessive levels of stress. Understand their working hours and the time that they spend daily on work. If your employees complete time sheets, look directly at these too and understand if long hours are a frequent pattern of behavior.

This will help you to determine where ‘regular’ levels of stress in a role can border into excessive. For example, we might expect to work longer hours in the days leading up to a big client meeting or a project deadline, but this shouldn’t be a normal daily pattern. Understand where this excess lies and how resources or capacity can be either re-shifted or brought into the business to support your staff.

Next, it’s essential for leaders and managers to promote a positive work-life balance from the top-down and encourage staff to make decisions that positively impact their levels of stress, taking steps to proactively tackle burnout. Leaders must lead by example here to empower staff to do the same. Consider dedicating part of a staff meeting to tips on creating a healthy work-life balance, and encourage staff to speak to their line managers if they feel that they aren’t currently achieving this.

Likewise, upskill your line managers in training around having mental health-related conversations so that they not only feel comfortable speaking to their line reports about this but are also aware of the ways they and the wider business can step in to support. Understanding levels of stress should be a crucial and regular part of line manager catch-ups.

Beyond this, consider how you can deliver awareness-raising sessions about the impact of stress in the workplace, which can be heightened around key moments of the year, such as World Mental Health Day. This could take the form of a webinar led by a psychologist who shares their practical advice on tackling stress at work alongside their tips on self-care and establishing boundaries.

If a colleague has experienced burnout in a previous role, consider how developing a powerful blog post, written from their perspective, could help other employees recognize red flags and see the priority in looking after themselves and establishing healthy working habits.

The above tips will only be effective if you ‘walk the talk’ and show staff that you are committed to supporting their mental well-being, not only speaking about it but showing that you care through your actions, too. It’s worth it from a business perspective; recent research has shown that investing in employee well-being can have a 4:1 ROI.

For every $1 invested in mental health support, businesses then see a $4 return via improved productivity and reduced absenteeism (University of Chicago). It’s time to step up and see the return on investment for mental well-being–benefitting not only your staff but also your financial performance as a business.

Author Bio

Zoe Sinclair is a Workplace Well-Being Expert and the Founder of mental well-being consultancy and conference This Can Happen.

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