Mind health always has been an intriguing subject and camouflaged under the garb of
physical health. If you screen through much of the research and posts in newspapers and
social handle are on physical health. It is in recent years and specifically after the pandemic,
that the overall role of mind health in enhancing resilience and leading a fulfilling life has
been gaining prime importance across different organizations. In 2020, mental health
support went from a nice-to-have to a true business imperative. Being Not Okay is Okay and
is reflected in the compassion leave, mental health days /weeks, facilities to work from
home when not feeling okay, counseling benefits and apps etc.
Statistics indicate a link between mind health and employees presenteeism and
performance, attrition, workplace safety and psychological safety as well as critical incidents
at workplace.
It was found in a study that mental health challenges among employees across all
organizational levels are common. With Millennials and GEN Z, caregivers in workforce,
seventy-six percent of employees report at least one symptom of a mental health condition
and two-thirds of employees sought help by talking about their mental health to someone
at work – an important step in the right direction, especially in terms of reducing stigma,
which impacts the willingness to seek help, yet only 49% of respondents described their
experience of talking about mental health at work as positive or reported that they received
a positive or supportive response.
This shows that much needs to be done to address the stigma around it as organizations
foray into an emerging world of Diversity Equity Inclusion and Accessibility. The need of
employees is a sustainable and mentally healthy workplace – this necessitates taking on the
real work of culture change.
Employers must move from visualizing mental health as an individual prerogative to a
collective responsibility. Keeping the workplace factors in mind, compartmentalizing mind
health as individual responsibility to be taken care of through self-care mental health days
or employee benefits is not requisite enough.
Stigma, fear and shame around mind health is linked to reduction in self-image, work
related growth and performance, and can be overcome with leadership support.
Organizational leaders can consider mental health as topmost priority and crusade it by
sharing their own lived experiences to develop a culture of transparency and openness. To
promote an organizational culture around mental health, plant supervisors, managers need
to be equipped to support the employees if they had a mental health condition or
symptom.
Organizations can have trainings for leaders, managers, and all employees on being mental
health champions – how to navigate mental health at work, have difficult conversations,
handle crises and emergencies, address various mental health issues and create supportive
workplaces – the vital part being building an environment of psychological safety.
In workspaces of the future the mental health paradigm would need a cultural transition
understanding vulnerability, compassion and sustainable ways of working.
Contributed by Malini Shah
