Employee Mental Health And Wellness

“What mental health needs is more sunlight, more candour, and more unashamed conversation.” – Glenn Close

To define mental health or being mentally healthy is more than just the absence of illness, rather it’s a state of overall wellbeing. The concept is inclined by culture, but it usually relates to having the capability to cope with and bounce back from stress and sadness.

There are numerous indicators that a company is doing well, including employee turnover, financial gains, meeting deadlines, happy clients, and so on. Is that it? Employees are critical to achieving these success metrics, and the importance of their mental health cannot be underestimated in the pursuit of success.

Keeping in mind that while this is the most important success metric, however, the numbers speak differently, and the pandemic has played a significant role in this. LinkedIn's Workforce Confidence Index 2021 shows that 55% of Indian professionals feel stressed. The last two years have brought a drastic change in not just our life in general but how the world operates. The findings have also indicated that flexibility and work-life balance are critical to driving talent across the Indian professional landscape for years to come.

Why Employee mental health is important and why should the company care?

The pandemic has brought a shift and has played a catalyst in transforming priorities. People are putting their health and well-being ahead of everything else. So, a company must ensure to prioritise its employees' mental health because it affects their overall performance, which has a greater impact on the company's future goals and objectives. People will resign without hesitation if they believe their well-being is jeopardised. The phenomenon of "Great Resignation" is an excellent example of how workplace dynamics are changing and how health and well-being has taken precedence over everything else.

In the current times, working towards mental health and wellbeing has become one of the fastest growing industries with an acute shortage of professionals. There are primarily 3 key caregivers in mental wellbeing:

1. Therapists and Psychologists who can help in mental wellbeing.

2. Psychiatrists who cater when there is a disassociate disorders

3. Coaches and Counsellors who are trained to deal with the daily stress issues and realign themselves to be more productive.

According to a study conducted by Oracle and Workplace Intelligence, an HR research and advisory firm, people in various countries suffer from varying degrees of mental health issues, with Indians and Chinese suffering the most. According to the report, employees in India (32 per cent) feel the most burned out from overwork since the pandemic began. The study also discovered that Indians are more stressed than most workers worldwide, with 36% having poor mental health, 32% lacking job motivation, and 31% feel disconnected from their personal lives.

These data points demonstrate that the workplaces need to change to accommodate changing priorities and there is a dire need for businesses to give employees' mental health and wellness top priority to bring out the best in them. To understand how mental wellbeing is affecting people when the pandemic has brought a shift to the way we work, it is essential to consider the difference and the transformation from the hybrid model to back to office. To recognize that work from home has made the boundaries disappear. Coming back to work exposed the different kind of conflicts they faced in terms of the stepping out of the comfort of their homes and the realization of what they really value. The major disposition towards life has changed and employees now want to have a work life balance. It is necessary for the organizations to understand this paradigm shift, otherwise, both the business and the employees will suffer.

It has come down to how well you handle the crucial conversations? Conflicts like this necessitate an environment where employer-employee conversations are initiated. These conversations act as a bridge for effective communication, influence the outcome and help strengthen relationships and work through disagreements to achieve the desired results.

The art of learning to increase focus and productivity, to evade the feeling of being stuck can be addressed by recognizing how these trap seduce you and limits your abilities.

Similarly, the entire shift has affected employers and organisations. They are also making significant efforts to address the issue. They are looking for game-changing solutions to effectively deal with the situation. Breakthrough Coaching for Leaders can assist in renewing a vision and initiating change in the most desired manner to develop a meaningful employer-employee relationship and develop collaborative work culture.

A demotivated team needs a positive environment to thrive. Organisations that don't embrace change don’t stay relevant for a changing workforce. The employee is prepared to leave the company if it doesn't prioritise their mental health and finds that it no longer aligns with their priorities. The employee does not want to compromise their work-life balance. Building more efficient and successful interactions at work is crucial. A plan of action to align organisations' expectations with employees' aspirations is the way to go.

So, it is critical to find solutions to create a safe space and Conversational Capacity for employees at all levels to communicate openly and without discrimination. Managers who do not assist employees in removing obstacles or sharing resources with them can make them feel overwhelmed, apathetic, unenthusiastic and unmotivated. L&D programmes serve as an avenue for valuable feedback that can help retain valuable talent. It facilitates shifting attitudes toward mental disorders among both employees and employers, which is necessary to address the importance of mental health in the workplace.