How to create an environment where employees feel they can talk about mental health

‘Company culture’ is a phrase that most applicants are used to seeing in job descriptions. According to BreatheHR, company culture is how a business “cultivates growth by offering each employee a voice, while encouraging healthy day-to-day attitudes, behaviours and work ethics”.

More than just yoga sessions and office amenities, company culture should encompass a value system that looks to support all core areas of employee wellbeing. With the Association of Accounting Technicians finding that the average person spends around 3,515 days working in their lifetime, candidates are starting to prioritise companies with a strong company culture, particularly one that they identify with, as an indicator for the best employee experience. In fact, Jobvite’s 2018 Job Seeker Nation Study, revealed that 46% of candidates believe culture is very important in the application process.

Culture is something that high-growth start-ups focus on to engage employees in achieving the company's mission and to attract talent. Now, we’re seeing more and more dynamic leaders recognise the importance of culture in transforming employees from paid labour into partners and advocates.

Beyond a duty of care, a lot of companies understand that a company culture that encourages open discourse and support on mental health will not only lead to a healthier team but will also reduce staff turnover and rehiring costs. People who feel cared for are more likely to care.

Barriers to having an open company culture

Creating an environment where employees feel comfortable to share any mental health concerns is the ideal, but there are a lot of barriers that might make this an unrealistic short-term goal:

1. Diverse mental health needs

No one’s mental health journey is the same. Common mental health disorders (2011) figures from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence show that depression and anxiety is considered the most common mental health concern in Britain. However, employees might be contending with individual issues that are less well-known. Sharing their experiences with others who aren’t in the same boat might mean that they’re not able to find the validation they need, potentially bringing feelings of negativity and discouraging them from sharing in future.

The phrase ‘we all have mental health’ means just that. Just because a person doesn’t have a mental health condition, doesn’t mean that they don’t need support. We all struggle sometimes, and we all need to be able to talk about those struggles.

Without proper training or appropriate mental health resources to add an extra layer of support, managers might not be able to identify the best way to help these employees if they’re struggling.

2. Mental health stigmas

Although open discussions around mental health are improving people’s perceptions across the board, mental health still carries a stigma in many workplaces. These stigmas can prevent people from feeling like they’re able to speak up in the first place for fear of repercussions from their team or higher-up in the business.

With only 14% of professionals saying they feel comfortable discussing their mental health worries at work, more still needs to be done to educate teams as a whole and to help employees to combat their own mental health stigmas, too.

Providing information sources and courses enables employees to learn more about what they may be going through, which could help them to overcome any internalised stigmas. In addition, by creating a safe space, where those who may feel uncomfortable with coming forward and speaking to someone about their feelings can go, employers can help to support those with mental health concerns.

3. Siloes within the business

Exacerbated by the move to digital and remote working for a lot of office-based companies, siloing has become a real issue for company culture, especially regarding mental health. Not being able to regularly interact across the business (or with such people as wellbeing champions and HR leaders) may add an extra blocker to employees who are struggling and in need of support.

The foundation of a mental health-first company culture

Depending on how well-formed or defined your company’s culture and values are, approaching mental health as (at least a part of) the foundation to overall employee engagement and satisfaction will help your business long-term.

Saying you’re there for your employees isn’t enough. Signpost and enforce policy around mental health clearly, involve senior stakeholders in the business to educate and communicate these values to their respective teams, and break down siloes by hosting regular meetings across the business in which employees can voice their concerns.

Putting these processes in place will build a solid footing from which you can start to create a wellbeing toolkit.

Ensuring you have the right resources to support staff whilst implementing a value system

Building a company culture around mental wellbeing for your staff is a slow process as it takes time to implement and ingrain new thinking into the day-to-day running of your business. How can you help your employees now?

Ensure that you have the right mental health resources in place to support and protect the mental wellbeing of your team at any time, and offer a safe and confidential way for employees to seek immediate support, no matter how open or judgment-free your organisational culture.

The author is Robin Lewitt, business development manager at Togetherall.

This article is provided by Togetherall.