How to Support Employee Mental Health at Work

And welcome back. Well, bosses and leaders at work play a vital role in creating an environment where everyone feels valued, supported, and empowered. Joining us today is leadership consultant. We've got Beth Ridley here, and she's going to help us help these people in charge, help support employees being on a daily basis, take care of their mental health. Good to see you.

Good to see you.

Good morning. So let's talk a little bit about this. Why is supporting employee mental health so important? Because we think about, you know, we've talked about making people valued or how to empower them or motivate them, but this is really about mental health, mental health.

Well, fortunately, we're getting more comfortable about talking about mental health in the workplace, which I think is a good thing. And it's so important because we're humans at work first and foremost, and there's no secret that we are under a lot of stress, burnout, anxiety. I think I did a topic on loneliness at work that a lot of people really appreciated because these are things that we all feel that we don't talk about. And unless we're feeling mentally well, we're just not going to be our best at work.

Yeah, it translates right to our output for the company. Okay, so how do you think the topic of mental health has evolved? Cause I do feel like people are, like you said, a bit more comfortable with it.

Yes.

Companies are acknowledging it more.

All good. And so I want that trend to continue. This is Mental Health Awareness Month, which I think helps to bring this topic and start to normalize it a little bit. But still, let's be honest, it's really not a topic that employees will talk about willingly at work, necessarily because there's a lot of embarrassment still, or they're afraid that they'll be judged or even maybe seen as weak if they talk about maybe they're not in a good place mentally.

Yeah, I think that's very true. So what are some of the challenges, then that maybe leaders might face when they're trying to acknowledge mental health at.

Work for a place? So leaders actually play a big role in terms of one's mental health. I mean, if you think about it, your boss or your manager, who you see every day, their words or actions towards you can really have a big impact, either lifting you up or unfortunately, maybe tearing you down. And we spend so much time at work. It's important that leaders take their role seriously in terms of how to support mental health. But I do appreciate that it's an uncomfortable position for leaders for a couple of reasons. I mean, One, Leaders are not therapists. I'm so glad you said that.

It's exactly where my mind went.

Yeah. And so I think people don't want to do something that could cause more harm. And then I also like to say we're also not mind readers. So if people aren't sharing maybe what they need or how they're feeling around mental health, what are we supposed to do? Like we just don't know. Right.

And they're not necessarily equipped to always talk through some issues as well. So I like that. Okay, so what can leaders do in terms of this, these challenges, how do they then support them? Because you've kind of come up with a little list of things that leaders can do.

I think there's really four really practical things that everyone can do. So the first thing is just also model the importance of mental health and mental well being yourself.

Lead by example.

Lead by example. So if you are taking a mental health day or if you simply go on vacation, or if you say oh I had to take that walk to clear my mind or I meditated this morning, this shows to other people that you yourself are prioritizing it. You understand the importance of taking care of yourself. And that translates and signals to others like okay, this is not a weird topic. This is something that actually my boss prioritizes it.

So how about normalizing it? Cause that's your number two. I do think leaders are worried about coddling sometimes employees too and making it become too regular of an occurrence. So how do you do that and also support them where you're not over encouraging in a way.

Does that make sense? Well, I think normalizing that we all have some mental health challenges and so I think just making it ebb and flow. Yeah, making it a safe place to bring up the conversation if an employee wants to. So I use things like, you know, Mental Health Awareness Month. It's a great launching off point and you could be like, well you know, it's the month, here's an interesting article. Or you know, just kind of like weave in topics and it doesn't have to be heavy handed but small little signaling that employees will pick up to say, okay, if there is something going on on my mind, it wouldn't be so weird or unusual or I wouldn't be so severely judged if I have to raise something because I need some help or support or understanding to be my best.

How about resources? Is it their job to provide that?

Well, most companies will have some actual professional resources. And so I think the good thing that the managers can do is just be familiar with it. And again, you don't have to necessarily suggest anything proactive. But if you know an employee, and this is why just spending time with employees and getting to know them personally, you can kind of tell if someone is off. Right. If someone is usually talkative and you know, now they're not or something like that, or if they're consistently late or not coming to work, you know, you might want to suggest our company offers these resources so the boss should at least be aware of what they are.

So know your employees is truly your last idea in that which you kind of touched on already. But it really is up to you as a leader to know who's working with you and for you.

Absolutely. I think one on ones are the best opportunity to do that. And just getting to know you know your employees. I like to ask simple questions like how has your workload been lately? Because a big source of stress might be workload or do you feel supported or how can I support you without prying in your personal business ask that question.

That's a great point.

It's a good point. And I think the most important thing is to just be available to listen. Leaders don't have to fix problems. Employees don't want their bosses to be all in their business and fix problems. But if you just listen with an understanding ear, sometimes that is the most generous thing and helpful thing that you can do.

Great advice. Beth, as always, good to see you.

Thanks.

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