Employee wellbeing is more important now than ever before, and businesses have a duty of care to workers in supporting the overall health of their team members. With more than a third of people’s lives spent at work, going through difficult times can have a significant effect on employee performance in the workplace. Here are a few tips on how employers can better support workers who are experiencing challenging times.
Be vulnerable. Sharing is caring, as they say, so letting workers know that managers are not immune to hardship helps to remove any stigma surrounding difficult topics such as mental health issues. Everyone has experienced some form of discomfort at one stage or another, and it’s important to normalise that by sharing those experiences within the team.
Lead by example. Saying that employee mental health is a priority is one thing, but implementing solid and practical strategies in the workplace to support this is what differentiates good managers from great leaders. Workers want to know that if they fall on hard times and require assistance from their workplace in order to safely navigate it, the support is there.
Build a culture of connection. Checking in regularly with team members is critical and doing it with intention is key. By maintaining consistent contact with employees, managers are better able to recognise the early signs that a worker may be struggling, and provide support in order to help deal with it. Employers can only help fix a problem if they know about it. The simple act of asking a worker “how are you going” can have a significantly positive impact on employee wellbeing and team culture as a whole.
Provide flexibility. Life throws curveballs and the last two years have only confirmed that. Understanding that the needs of team members will continue to change, and that adaptability is necessary to ensure employee wellbeing will put managers in good standing. It’s not productive to make assumptions about the kind of support employees require and even less so to introduce blanket solutions that will likely affect each team member very differently. Listen to the individual needs, and implement where feasible, options that will assist in getting workers back on track.
Over communicate. Managers who ensure employees are kept informed will find that team members are less likely to experience mental health issues related to work. Knowledge is power and a really important lesson is that clear communication is fundamental to the wellbeing of workers. Being open and honest about changes or updates within the business and providing clarification around work norms and employee expectations will help to remove uncertainty and form a foundation of trust between employers and employees.
Invest in training. Managers can have the very best of intentions when it comes to supporting employees through difficult situations, but it’s not always easy to put it into practice when dealing with real world issues amongst workers. As more and more of life’s uncertainty spills over into work impacting the way businesses operate, leaders are asking “how do we support the wellbeing of our employees”. Implementing proactive and preventative workplace mental health training for management teams will help to debunk common myths, reduce stigma and build the necessary skills to have productive conversations about mental health at work.
Improve policies and procedures. To assist in reducing employee stress, managers may review company policies and procedures in a meaningful way, focusing on what can be updated, added, removed or changed to better foster employee wellbeing. Looking at items such as flexible working hours, email and other communications, and paid and unpaid leave, there may be room to adapt specific policies to the changing needs of workers. Performance reviews can also be reframed as an opportunity to discuss concerns and issues in a productive way instead of simply an evaluation against targets. When making changes, it’s also important to be explicit that the goal is to support the mental health and wellbeing of employees.
Implementing effective strategies to assist workers who may be struggling through mental health issues has never been more prevalent for managers. Keep the health and wellbeing of your workers a priority, get in touch with our team who can support you to navigate difficult employee matters.
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