We live in a fast-paced world where a modern workplace has but little concern for the mental health of an employee. That’s the main reason why we have such a high level of poor mental health among employees today.

While the workplace isn’t the sole reason for this, it is a perfect breeding ground for various triggers which, in time, tend to compound and instigate mental health difficulties for all who work in such environments.

Constant stress, panic, bias, anxiety, irregular diet, low amounts of sleep, tiredness, negative environment, and all other similar factors tend to have a very negative impact on one’s mental health.

Some employers even expect their workers to come to work despite being sick and then get mad at them when they don’t perform well. This can cause an employee to develop a lot of anxiety or even an illness, in the worst case scenario.

Absenteeism

Poor mental health is the main reason for absenteeism, which basically means that the employees who work in such conditions will literally find any reason not to come to work.

To reduce absenteeism and create a working environment that doesn’t actually wear the employees down but rather nourishes their mental health, both the employer and the employees must do their part.

Proactive and positive employers who actually promote mental health can easily increase the productivity of their employees by providing a healthy and positive working environment. With all this in mind, here are a few useful steps that can help create a workplace that nourishes mental health and increases employee productivity.

1. Understand How to Adapt Your Workplace Environment

Let’s state the obvious: a workplace that causes the workers to suffer from mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety, and stress are hardly going to become big and successful with happy employees giving their best every day.

So, knowledge is power in this situation. A mentally healthy working environment has countless benefits for both employers and employees.

A mentally positive and happier workplace means increased productivity and creativity since the employees are properly motivated. Non-inclusion in decision-making, lack of engagement, time pressure, excessive workloads are just some of the risk factors that can lead to negative outcomes.

By understanding these risks, you can develop better and more effective measures to reduce these risks. These measures should include:

• recognition of good work
• supporting employees in career development
• supporting employees in improving work-life balance
• greater employee autonomy
• inclusion in decision-making
• clear identification of all situations that might lead to illness or stress
• risk assessment
• promotion of safety and health

Just by knowing that their employers are making efforts to provide a better working environment can be a stimulant for the improved mental health of everyone involved.

2. Follow the Example of Organizations Who Have Already Taken Action

Every employer needs to clearly understand the reason why they need to invest in creating a workplace that nourishes the mental health of their employees.

Why? Simply because without motivated employees there are no employers. So, if your workers are stressed out and anxious, that is your problem, because they won’t be able to focus on their work, which will eventually cost you money.

If you notice that your employees are struggling, encourage them in any way, provide support and treatments to assist them in their recovery.

Learn from the organizations that have already established positive working environments, since these are the best examples to follow. Take their wellbeing initiatives and implement them in your business strategies.

That way, you will not only protect the wellbeing and mental health of your employees, but you will also establish a better relationship with the employees, gaining their trust and loyalty.

This will result in better management of liabilities and costs, as well as improved employee engagement. Following the example of all the companies that decided to protect and improve the mental health of their workers seems like a really good idea.

That’s how you’ll know exactly what they have gained from such actions, how they monitor their actions, how they took such actions and, most importantly, what made them do it. Better mental health in the workplace equals a drastic improvement in productivity, which can save your businesses and help it grow.

3. Understand the Needs of Your Employees

Your corporate culture and the people who work in your company are unique. Your employees have personal needs, just like everybody else. Make an effort to better understand these needs and take practical steps to help your staff take care of those needs. Also, do whatever you can to understand the opportunities of your employees.

You will do so by adopting unique procedures and policies that will improve your workflow and create opportunities for both your employees and you as a company.

Put simply, people will work harder and feel better if they’re working for a successful company that is fully capable of creating good opportunities for their workers to prosper.

You need to make them believe that hard work truly pays off. To develop such unique procedures and policies, you’ll need good tools that will help you set up your initiative.

Diagnostic tools, training programs, and educational materials can be of a great help in doing this, as these are good means to help your employees cope with stressful situations and other triggers that can negatively reflect on their mental health.

Of course, these tools can’t replace real professional medical help and input, but they can provide enough assistance to improve the basic mental health of employees.