Poor mental wellness undermines workplace productivity, punctuality, and attendance. Depression alone costs organizations an estimated $44 billion annually in lost productivity. Yet despite this significant toll on organizations’ bottom lines, many leaders still fail to prioritize mental wellness. Doing so requires time, effort, and money, all in pursuit of an intangible reward. However, workplaces that invest in mental health have clear advantages over those that don’t, advantages that go beyond ROI and employee retention rates. Building a culture of mental wellness alongside a wellness platform like Givhero will not only empower your employees but also turn you into the best leader you can be.
Below, we discuss how mental wellness creates better workplace leaders and better organizations:
What Is Mental Wellness?
Mental wellness is the process of achieving mental well-being by aligning daily habits with one's sense of personal fulfillment. This process includes the ability to think, feel, and act in ways consistent with one's values, goals, and interests.
Mental wellness is dynamic and involves a cyclical relationship between thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and physical health. We cannot isolate one aspect from the others because all are interdependent. For example, our thoughts affect our emotions, which then affect our behavior, then our physical health, then our thinking again—and so on. Seeking mental wellness, however, can pause this cycle so we can better align our current and ideal selves.
How Mental Wellness Can Benefit You, Your Employees, and Your Organization
Although you may not be able to quantify its benefits, promoting mental wellness can still directly affect workplace productivity. For instance, unwell employees are more likely to struggle with staying focused and completing tasks. On the other hand, those with robust mental health can focus with greater consistency.
Mental wellness also affects job satisfaction and employee retention rates. Happy employees tend to find greater satisfaction in their jobs, while unhappy ones often struggle to see the same. In addition, promoting mental wellness provides employees with a safe environment wherein they can feel comfortable and establish a healthy company culture.
It All Starts with Leaders
Practicing mental wellness in the workplace starts at the top, so foster good relationships with your staff to set the standard for office communication and culture. Employees embrace communication, collaboration, and support of one another when they see leaders doing the same.
How to Promote Mental Wellness in the Workplace
Besides setting a good example, you could promote mental wellness among your employees in a few other ways:
- Develop a clear vision and goals: With a clear vision for their company, leaders can help their employees succeed. Specifically, this vision should detail how you want the organization to grow and how your employees can help you achieve both your and their goals within the organization.
- Listen and communicate attentively: Additionally, everyone on your team should feel that they can communicate openly without fear of judgment or reprisal. Doing so includes expressing concerns about one another's mental wellness at work. Make yourself emotionally aware, open, available, and considerate.
- Implement mental wellness programs: From guided meditations to fitness challenges, workplace wellness programs can help encourage mental wellness in a structured manner. These programs replace abstract mental wellness goals with practical, concrete ones. Employees can visualize their wellness goals, work together towards them, and track their progress along the way.
The Bottom Line
As a workplace leader, you can impact your employees’ mental wellness. Supporting them may involve addressing their needs openly, encouraging their professional growth, or simply noticing when they feel down. The more you encourage and support them, the happier and healthier they and your organization will be.
Discover a Mental Wellness Platform for Your Workplace with Givhero
The Givhero app is a structured wellness platform for you to facilitate your organization’s wellness initiatives. From wellness goals to charitable donations, the app provides incentives for participating in health programs from meditation to fitness. Boosting engagement with your wellness program has never been easier. Promote mental wellness and become a better workplace leader by calling (240) 801-5927.
