How to support mental health and wellbeing in the workplace effectively

Stress at work

We all know how stressful work can be — endless amounts of write ups, reports and work to be completed at home, week in week out — not to mention the pressures outside of work. It all adds up and more often than not, impacts our mental health and wellbeing in some way.

Suffering from stress, anxiety, depression and other conditions related to our wellbeing is not only unhealthy for an individual, but also for a team. These problems don’t only afflict the individual’s quality of life, which in itself is terrible, they can also impact productivity, quality of work and even the mental health of colleagues.

A statistics report on stress stated “40% of workers reported their job was very or extremely stressful. 25% viewed their jobs as the number one stressor in their lives. 75% of employees believe that workers have more on-the-job stress than a generation ago.”[1]. This tells us that arguably, now, more than ever, there needs to be a stronger focus on mental health and wellbeing in the workplace.

How can we tackle this problem?

Supporting someone’s mental health and wellbeing isn’t just asking how someone is, it’s finding a specific problem or stressor and putting things in-place to help them overcome the issues at hand.

But how do we find out the stressors impacting the individuals?

Many in the workplace do not believe that a face to face conversation is particularly effective in helping people talk about their problems. “A survey of over 1,000 people living in the UK found that 82% of workers wouldn’t be confident talking to their colleagues about mental health.”[2]

This clearly shows how ineffective talking face to face really is. Even the most confident of people are more likely to dismiss their problems when asked as it is easier to do so. At GoVox, we especially believe that it is harder in the workplace to talk openly as it may cause the individual to feel awkward when they see their colleagues every day. Additionally, there is still unfortunately stigma attached when it comes to mental health; there is still more work to do there.

How to support mental health and wellbeing effectively in the workplace

A great way to tackle this problem is contacting individuals via means with which they’re more comfortable, for example an online ‘Wellbeing Check In’. This can take away the pressure of talking face to face, and ask specific, focused questions related to an individual’s wellbeing. Not only do surveys that can be easily completed via a smartphone take away some of the pressure for the individual, but they will also be able to create an impressive yield of responses. With our platform, they also flag any responses which may suggest an individual is struggling with mental health, meaning you can support their wellbeing more easily.

Find out more about the GoVox Wellbeing Check In here.

Bibliography

[1] – https://www.stress.org/workplace-stress 

[2]- https://www.trainingjournal.com/articles/features/82-workers-aren’t-confident-talking-about-mental-health