11th August 2020
8 ways to support employee wellbeing
At the end of March, Mind Share Partners, conducted a global study in partnership with Qualtrics and SAP on employee mental health. The study found that mental wellbeing of over 2 out of 5 employees has declined since the start of the global pandemic.
In this article, Kelly Greenwood and Natasha Krol outline 8 ways mangers can support their employees mental health.
From the Article:
Even in the most uncertain of times, the role of a manager remains the same: to support your team members. That includes supporting their mental health. The good news is that many of the tools you need to do so are the same ones that make you an effective manager.
Be vulnerable. One silver lining of the pandemic is that it is normalizing mental health challenges. Almost everyone has experienced some level of discomfort. But the universality of the experience will translate into a decrease in stigma only if people, especially people in power, share their experiences. Being honest about your mental health struggles as a leader opens the door for employees to feel comfortable talking with you about mental health challenges of their own.
Prior to the pandemic, the biotech firm Roche Genentech produced videos in which senior leaders talked about their mental health. They were shared on the company intranet as part of a campaign called #Let’sTalk. The company then empowered “mental health champions” — a network of employees trained to help build awareness for mental health — to make videos about their experiences, which were used as part of the company’s various mental health awareness campaigns. (See the editor’s note below regarding our relationships with this company and others mentioned in this article.)
Those of us working from home have had no choice but to be transparent about our lives, whether our kids have crashed our video meetings or our coworkers have gotten glimpses of our homes. When managers describe their challenges, whether mental-health-related or not, it makes them appear human, relatable, and brave. Research has shown that authentic leadership can cultivate trust and improve employee engagement and performance.
Get the full article online: 8 Ways Managers Can Support Employees’ Mental Health.
Make sure to explore Inspiring Workplace’s other content and insights about wellbeing and leadership.