Unrelenting stress at work wears your body down, compromises your immune system and can lead to a ... [+]
America has a mental health problem. So what should employers do about it?
In the workplace, on social media platforms and in the real world, there are constant acts of rudeness, hate, anger and aggression. And now mental health issues have gained the attention of the United States surgeon general Vivek Murthy, who pointed out that toxic workplaces can damage employees’ health.
“Toxic workplaces are harmful to workers—to their mental health, and it turns out, to their physical health as well,” Murthy said this week in the Wall Street Journal. He added that unrelenting stress at work wears your body down, compromises your immune system and can lead to a cascade of ailments such as depression, heart disease and sleep deprivation. Additionally, low pay, a lack of autonomy and long laboring hours can contribute to elevated health risks.
Studies have shown that working long hours leads to serious health issues. Employees who log 55 or more hours per week have a higher risk of a stroke and dying from ischemic heart disease, compared to those clocking the relatively traditional 35 to 40 hours a week. This punishing overtime led to 745,000 deaths from stroke and heart disease in 2016, a 29% increase from 2000, according to the World Health Organization.
“No job is worth the risk of stroke or heart disease,” WHO director-general Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. He pointed to the blurring of the boundaries between home and work life during the pandemic, which pushed people to put in longer hours to save their jobs amidst massive layoffs. He added that governments, employers and workers should collaborate to devise reasonable limits in a concerted effort to protect the well-being of workers.
But at the same time, people face record-high levels of inflation, layoffs, hiring freezes and rescinded job offers. These actions create a climate of fear and anxiety. People are worried about losing their jobs or possessing insufficient funds to weather the current contracting economy. Older workers fear that they’ll outlive their savings.
What Employers Can Do To Improve Employee Health
Proactive and progressive leaders are enacting changes designed to improve the lives of their staff. Taking care of workers benefits both the employees and the company. It is one of the best ways to attract, recruit and retain people.
Compassionate leaders want workers to feel valued, understood and appreciated. They deserve psychological safety to do their jobs without fear of being dressed down in public for making a mistake or bad decision. They understand that no one should feel isolated in their daily struggles at work.
Fortunately, there are still millions of jobs available in the U.S. Executives are also recognizing the need to show empathy and put in place employee-centric policies and procedures to empower their workforce. The goal is to support their mental health, emotional well-being and help avoid burnout before it's too late.
Some of the new initiatives offered by thoughtful managers include passes to fitness and wellness centers, access to mental health apps and platforms, additional paid time off, abbreviated work weeks, child-care assistance, no-Zoom days and company-wide rest weeks where everyone has time off so they can decompress without feeling pressured to respond to emails, phone calls and texts. Offering elder care and bereavement counseling after the death of a loved one goes a long way in showing that the workers’ families are also valued.
C-suite executives should also offer programs to help train managers to learn how to express empathy. If there are no mental health professionals on staff, it’s prudent to bring aboard therapists, mentors and coaches to help workers achieve their true potential and build up their morale. Another option could be to hire a chief wellness officer to design policies and procedures around employee health.
There Will Be Challenges To Confront
Everyone has their own struggles and challenges they wrestle with. Some are more communicative than others. Compared to Gen-Z and Millennials, Baby Boomers and Gen-Xers are not as communicative about sharing their mental health issues, feelings of career burnout, bouts of depression and existential crises. They grew up in a time when there was a negative stigma attached to these feelings.
Supervisors have the difficult task of trying to ascertain who needs assistance and what is required. Regular confidential microsurveys may help gauge an understanding of what workers feel about the organization, their co-workers, bosses and the workload. Based upon the responses and input of the workers, management can implement programs tailored to help with their individualized physical and mental health.
Inflation is diluting the take-home pay of employees. Paychecks aren’t keeping up with the costs of food, clothes, vehicles, rent and other essentials. Consequently, financial insecurity is taking a toll on people’s mental health and well-being. It’s hard to focus on your daily tasks when you’re worried about your higher mortgage payment.
Increasing Pay And Offering Bespoke Work Styles
Companies could also offer other benefits, such as the flexibility to work where and when they want, four-day workweeks, relocating to lower-cost locations for the same amount of pay and staggered schedules that help with child and elder care needs. Offering remote work options gives back up to three hours a day to the commuter. They’ll save money by not having to fill up the gas tank, taking mass transit or being subjected to the high costs of breakfast and lunch in expensive cities like New York.
A better work-life balance may be achieved if an employee is empowered to create their own schedule. They would no longer live in dread of being called out for a workday visit to the doctor, seeing a child’s school play, ballet recital or sporting event.
What You Can Do To Help Yourself
In addition to how the company is helping, you need to take control of your own life. Think of what would make you love your job. Speak with your boss and share what you want to achieve.
Hopefully, they have plans for your long-term future. If not, it’s good to find out now. Instead of wasting several years of your life, you can start planning what you’d like to do next. Seek out top recruiters in your space who can turn you onto the hidden job market to find new opportunities. Find a career coach and résumé writer to prepare you for interviews.
And if you feel stuck, lost or hopeless, don’t be afraid to reach out for professional help.
