Mental Health in the Workplace

What if we could leave work healthier than when we arrived? 

Mental health in the workplace is on the decline with 75-80% of general team members at moderate or higher risk of depression and/or anxiety. When we look at leaders, that percentage increases to 95%, with 88% of middle management at severe or greater risk of anxiety/depression. Given every mental health diagnosis results in a 400hr loss of productivity per year, that’s a huge cost to business. 

Leaders want to support their staff, but so often they don’t have the tools, resources, or knowledge to do this effectively. Often the response to mental health issues in the workplace are reactive instead of proactive. EAP programs and workcover are great for those in dire situations. But if that’s the extent of your wellbeing program it’s like spending all your resources on pulling drowning people out of a river, whilst ignoring the upstream problem that’s causing them to fall in. What’s needed is a top-down approach that addresses the root cause of the problem, instead of putting a bandaid over a gaping wound. 

So, is there a comprehensive way to empower staff to work to their full potential? Of course there is, why else would I be writing this article ;) 

Shaewellness is a corporate health and wellness program that teaches leaders how to provide a workspace that facilitates that very thing. 

Imagine how much more productive your staff would be if their potential was supported? How many more targets would they meet? How much more positive would the culture be? How much money would you save on recruitment and workcover? 

There is an effective way to look after your staff’s wellbeing and business goals simultaneously. And, as Simon Sinek says. “The leaders who get the most out of their people are the leaders who care most about their people”.

You’ve probably been involved in an air conditioner war - one person’s melting, whilst the other is shivering and they can’t seem to reach an agreement on a happy medium when it comes to temperature. Or perhaps you’re perplexed as to why some people are rushing back to the office post Covid, but others are happy staying at home. And we’ve all experienced the spectrum of perspectives when it comes to whether what so and so said was offensive or not. These are just some examples of factors that influence wellbeing. We know everyone’s different, but knowledge and understanding are two different things, let alone application. To really understand how people are different and what to do about it, we need to look to the science of individuality. How people’s brains are wired, what impact hormones have on their body and how this differs from person to person. And when we’re aware of these factors, we can use our knowledge to everyone’s advantage, including the business. 

“Employees who believe that management is concerned about them as a whole person — not just an employee — are more productive, more satisfied, more fulfilled. Satisfied employees mean satisfied customers, which leads to profitability.” - Anne M. Mulcahy, CEO, Xerox

If you’d like to explore this further and unlock the power of personalisation click here.