Mental Health Awareness Week is observed every May, highlighting the difficulties people face and the various types of support available. For some people, discussing their mental health is still considered taboo, leading many to keep their emotions inside.
This year’s theme is ‘community’, celebrating the impact that different communities can have when supporting others. The workplace should always be a supportive environment, but it also has the potential to uplift people’s mental health. Seeing the same people daily creates a unique bond, creating your little community. A little community can make a big difference, whether the whole team, the people on one floor, or even those in adjacent cubicles.
Here’s how:
Sense of belonging and inclusion
Having a workplace community can help employees not feel isolated and alone. Regular connections like this foster camaraderie, strengthen bonds, and facilitate emotional communication. Many people never realised the importance of this regular connection until 2020, when COVID-19 led most people to work remotely.
Once lockdown came into effect, more people reported feeling lonely. The number more than doubled, with 18.3% claiming to often feel lonely, compared to 8.5% before the pandemic.
Working communities create a strong sense of belonging and ensure people maintain a healthy social structure.
Reduces stress and burnout
In a working environment, people develop positive relationships with their colleagues. These can act as a protective buffer against stress and burnout. Someone may need to borrow an ear for reassurance when going over a rocky patch at work. This can be from anyone, but if this comes from someone in a similar boat, the advice can be more meaningful and helpful.
Stress can easily build up when staff don’t have the means to decompress regularly. Perhaps they take their work home with them, resulting in a lack of work/balance. A positive working environment allows employees to discuss their issues or worries about work with colleagues and find solutions.
Receive a range of perspectives (Diversity, lifestyle, mutual learning)
Having people close to you can make it easier when you need to talk to someone. Employees may be facing a situation that requires specific advice. A work environment is the perfect place to hear from various perspectives, receive advice, and potentially see a beneficial outcome.
This can come from three places:
Diversity
Different groups of people will have different lived experiences from one another. They may have faced a similar situation and can provide their unique outlook on what to do.
Lifestyle
The different ways people live their lives mean they will approach things differently. If advice someone else has provided doesn’t work, perhaps another person’s will.
Mutual learning
You aren’t the only person to need help. Other people on your team face their own issues and receive advice from others. By sharing how they have become stronger on the other side, everyone benefits from guidance and growth.
Working communities that celebrate team diversity help employees feel respected and valued. Understanding people’s differences can build understanding and empathy between team members, championing a healthier, supportive environment.
Peer recognition and feedback to boost morale
You often find that negative mental health originating at work stems from employees feeling like they aren’t recognised or valued by their superiors or colleagues. Businesses can alleviate this in several ways.
Recognition
Sometimes a simple ‘Thank You’ is all someone needs to feel uplifted. While people may just be expected to do their tasks as part of their job, it doesn’t mean their efforts should go unnoticed. Letting people know that their work has been helpful puts their positive impact on the business into perspective.
Feedback
Both positive and negative feedback can be beneficial to employees. While positive feedback can help for the same reasons as above, it also provides guidance, encouraging staff to continue working the way they are. This offers much-needed structure to how they work.
Negative feedback, however, can help employees to feel like they are constantly growing within their role. Many people’s mental health may be impacted if they feel stagnant within their job role. Feedback on the areas they can improve can provide a roadmap for how to grow.
The way employees can help one another is incredible, but there are some essential things to note.
Employee mental health should not be left on the shoulders of other employees
Colleagues are not your personal therapist, and you should not rely on them to manage severe and complex mental health issues.
Many mental health problems can be severe and personal. Colleagues who mean well may feel like they are required to provide emotional support to others. The negative thoughts of what could happen if they didn’t offer that support may impact them heavily, perhaps even making them feel guilty if they look to stop.
They also aren’t equipped for many conversations surrounding mental health. Employees may provide advice detrimental to someone’s situation, leading to things worsening, even when they meant for the best. It blurs boundaries between co-workers, and without proper structural safeguards, employees may feel pressured to take on responsibilities for the people around them without adequate training.
Many employees report ‘compassion fatigue’, which is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion when exposed to the suffering and trauma of others. This may lead to them developing mental health problems.
What can they do?
Employees should constantly be reminded that the team at People Matters HR, who are all trained mental health first aiders, can guide them towards the correct resources to help them through their issues. A strong workplace community is a small part of the bigger picture surrounding mental health. For practical, long-lasting support, your working environment needs real structure that can truly help employees. HR services are key to this framework, allowing you to direct employees towards expert guidance on mental health. You can also provide advice on how to improve employee wellbeing and foster a healthy, supportive workplace.
People Matters HR are committed to helping businesses build a supportive workplace. If you understand the importance of mental health support for your team, contact our team today.