Here are some proactive and preventative steps businessses can take to encourage positive mental health at work:
- Talk and listen to your employee as staff who are supported by a manager who is willing to listen to their work related problems are 62% less likely to be burned out.
- Put a stop to overworking staff and consider task distribution within teams. Support them to restore their work life balance by talking to them about it and offering reasonable adjustments if required.
- Cultivate a positive work environment by taking a relaxed attitude to work, giving freedom to experiment, forgiveness of mistakes, understanding of personal issues, and a zero-tolerance attitude to all forms of intimidation or harassment.
- Make roles, expectations, and goals crystal clear. Use job descriptions to set clear metrics and agree them, then keep track and review.
- Lend a sympathetic ear as burnout can often be linked to problems outside of work, give them opportunities to talk to you.
- Support job satisfaction by giving staff tasks you know they are interested in and utilise their skillset. You could also offer them training and development opportunities as well as plenty of praise!
- Cultures and policies should reflect your support for employees mental health. There should be a holistic mental health strategy which should be proactively implemented and regularly reviewed. Senior managers should champion workplace mental health, ensure worloads are realistic and promote a cultural shift in terms of attitudes towards taking time off.
- Consultation and collaboration are key to reducing stigma around mental health self care. Build inclusive networks and collaborate with diverse voices including young people and marginalised groups who are more at risk of burnout. Collaboration between line managers is key to ensure understanding of how to support those at risk of burnout, wellbeing action plans can support this. It is important to incorporate discussions about workload challenges within regular 1:1 check ins and team meetings.
- Training and development can be key to supporting employees to maintain wellbeing this training is available through Mental Health UK. Managers need to be made aware of policies and be able to encourage an open culture whilst maintaining boundaries. Train managers to understand the signs of burnout and explain how they can signpost employees to support and make adjustments to suit employee needs. Employees should also have inclusive awareness training to understand different contribution factors.
- Behaviours within the workplace can be key to encouraging positive mental health in the workplace. For example managers should promote and champion a healthy work life balance and encourage opportunities to look after mental health. Implement a rewards system and foster a culture of care and collaboration by encouraging team buildimng activities and social interaction. Changes in working conditions and employee feedback should lead to adjustments in policies and practices.
Acess more information and advice about preventing burnout in the workplace here:
