The mental health of employees in the workplace has a serious and direct impact on the companies they work for. This is the prime reason that organisations today are putting more emphasis on maintaining their employees’ mental health. The recent pandemic has evidently effected the mental health conditions of all employees — therefore, supporting the mental health of employees has been elevated from a courtesy to a necessity.
The Numbers Speak For Themselves
Around 42% of employees around the world have experienced a deterioration in their mental health due to COVID. There is no denying the fact that depression and anxiety disorders are powerful enough to go unnoticed and undetected for years. This makes the mental health disorder even more challenging.
The employers and companies hope that their employees can champion in maintaining the mental health. However, as per a 2018 survey, 72% of the employees wish for support by their employers in maintaining mental health and well being. This very requirement of the employees ranks higher than desire for equality, sustainability and diversity at the workplace.
The Basics Of Mental Health
Mental health is a state of well being in which an individual can equally cope with everyday stressors, work in a productive manner to their full potential and make a valuable contribution towards society — it is not solely the absence of mental illness. Just like physical health, mental health is an important component of the overall health of an individual. An individual can have a poor mental health without feeling any sort of illness and likewise, one can have a good mental health but suffer from mental illness.
The mental health and individual’s performance, are both two components that fit into the same equation, which results in productivity and a person’s ability to thrive in their environment.
The Importance Of Mental Health
The topic of mental health is often considered stigmatised in the workplace. While we have come a long way in terms of awareness, we are far from a perfectly knowledgable society. Here are some of the potential benefits of discussing and supporting mental health:
- Coping with challenges
Positive mental health is considered important as it allows an individual to cope up with the challenges and setbacks one has in life, including work and home. The positive mental health at the workplace helps in better coping up with the challenges of the roles and responsibilities one is hired for. Undoubtedly, the difficult challenges at work helps the individual flourish in their respective roles, manage the extreme stress levels and even boost their resilience power. All these aids the individual in reaching their highest potential.
- Increased productivity
A recent research showcased that 85% of the employees who were treated for depression reported an improved work performance. The depression treatment offered by the organisation also helped in reducing the absenteeism by 40%.
- Increased retention
A survey conducted in 2019 pointed that more than one-third of laid-off workers population left their job due to mental health reasons, be it primary or secondary.
Giving importance to mental health in the workplace can not only improve the aforementioned statistics, but it can also improve productivity and equality in many sectors of society.
