Employer Mental Health: How To Support Employee Wellbeing

What is mental health, and how does it impact people at work?

Mental health refers to the way in which people think and feel, and the ability individuals have to cope with the challenges of daily life. Just like physical health, everyone has mental health and will go through periods of having good mental health and poor mental health.

As workplaces come with their own challenges, it is common for people to experience mental health difficulties at work. Whether they feel overwhelmed by their responsibilities, under supported by management, or insecure about their ability to do their job, work can cause employees to experience a range of mental health struggles, including stress, anxiety, and depression.

Poor employee mental health can have a significant impact on individuals and employers as a whole. Stressed and unhappy employees can result in increased sickness absences, reduced productivity, and, for employers, a lower employee return on investment (ROI).

Calculate the impact of employee mental health on ROI with our free online calculator

Causes of poor mental health at work

There are many factors that contribute to poor mental health at work, from work-related stressors to personal problems being brought into the office from home. Examples include:

• Under-utilisation of skills and personal strengths
• Having a lack of training or skills for the job
• Excessive workloads
• Long hours
• Inflexible hours
• Unsafe working conditions
• Poor workplace culture
• Lack of support from colleagues and managers
• Discrimination or harassment at work
• Unclear responsibilities and job requirements
• Job insecurity
• Conflicting home demands

What does the law say about mental health support as an employer?

The law states that employers have a duty of care towards their employees. This means that they are required to do what they can within reason to support the mental health, safety, and wellbeing of their staff. As an employer, you should therefore consider the mental health and physical health of your employees as equally important.

Under certain circumstances, employees with poor mental health might also be legally considered to be disabled. To be considered disabled, the individual’s mental health challenges must:

• Have a substantial, negative impact on their life
• Have lasted, or are expected to last, for at least 12 months
• Affect their ability to carry out their normal, day-to-day activities

This is important to note as employers are not legally allowed to discriminate against employees because of a disability, in this case, because of their poor mental health. It also means employers are required to provide reasonable adjustments to help the affected individual cope at work.

Employer mental health provisions and support

There are many ways you can support mental health in the workplace as an employer, including implementing a range of mental health provisions and building a supportive, open working environment.

Create a supportive work environment

Creating a supportive work environment is important in keeping up team morale and making sure employees feel encouraged to open up about their mental health and seek help for any problems they are dealing with.

People in managerial positions should be encouraged to be supportive and appear engaged in the wellbeing of their team. Having frequent check-ins and 1-1s is one example of how this can be done.

It is also important that you facilitate a workplace culture that encourages and enables improvement and change. Listen to your employees and their needs, and implement changes at an organisational level to address the common causes of poor mental health. This shows that you are taking the mental health and wellbeing of your staff seriously.

Provide corporate mental health training

Offering mental health awareness training for employees is a great way of improving knowledge of mental health across your workforce and reducing the stigma against workplace mental health.

Mental health at work training is beneficial for all employees, from managers to junior staff members. Training managers can help them recognise the signs of mental health challenges in their team and teach them appropriate ways to support them, whereas training employees more generally can teach them skills for managing stress and the symptoms of poor mental health.

Explore our range of corporate mental health training courses

Implement mental health first aiders at work

Implementing mental health first aid in the workplace means training dedicated members of staff to be able to spot signs and symptoms of mental health issues in colleagues, provide non-judgemental support for affected individuals, and signpost people to seek further professional help when needed.

While having mental health first aiders at work isn’t legislation, it is recommended as it shows you are taking steps to protect the mental wellbeing of your employees.

Having as many mental health first aiders as you would physical first aiders is ideal, as it means you have adequate mental health coverage when individuals are absent from work.

Offer therapy and counselling for employees

Having the opportunity to talk about your feelings and troubles can be extremely helpful when trying to manage your mental health.

It can be difficult for people to open up to others about how they are feeling, but this can be made easier by providing confidential and judgement-free spaces to encourage individuals to speak up. That’s why therapy and counselling is an important consideration when thinking about mental health provisions as an employer.

From providing cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to teach employees how to change the way they think, feel, and behave about challenging situations, to offering counselling sessions where individuals can freely explore their feelings, giving your employees a safe space to talk to an expert about their mental health challenges can make them feel supported and listened to.

Learn more about the different types of therapy and treatments available

Introduce reasonable accommodations and adjustments

As an employer, implementing reasonable accommodations and adjustments for neurodiverse employees and employees experiencing mental health challenges can support them to participate in and excel at their work.

Examples of reasonable adjustments you could introduce into your workplace include:

• Allowing more frequent breaks
• Assisting with prioritising workload
• Providing written instructions rather than just verbal instructions
• Allowing flexible working (such as flexible working hours and the ability to work from home)
• Providing quiet spaces in the office for concentration and focus

Create a comprehensive mental health policy

Having a mental health policy outlines the steps you, as an employer, are taking to look after the mental health and wellbeing of your employees. It helps your staff understand what mental health provisions are available to them, and where they can access relevant support.

At Onebright, our team of experts can consult with you to understand your workplace wellbeing goals and assist you in creating a comprehensive mental health policy that will help you achieve these goals.

Tips for supporting employee mental health as an employer

As well as providing mental health provisions for your employees, there are ways you can support their mental health as an employer more directly. Here are some top tips that will help you talk to your staff about their mental health if they approach you for support:

Find an appropriate time and place to talk

If one of your employees wishes to speak to you about their mental health, it is important to have this discussion in an appropriate place and at an appropriate time. This might mean:

• Finding a private place where your staff member feels comfortable opening up to you
• Sitting in a quiet area of the office where there is minimal chance of noisy disruptions
• Dedicating enough time so you can have an in-depth conversation without rushing

Having these conversations at the right time and place will ensure you can give your full attention to your employee and their challenges.

Use active listening

Making sure you are actively listening to your employees’ concerns and challenges is an important way of building your relationship. It shows you are engaged in what they are saying and develops a sense of trust.

You can show you are actively listening by:

• Maintaining eye contact, if your employee is comfortable with this
• Using open body language, such as keeping your arms open and at your sides/in your lap
• Turning your body towards your employee when talking to them
• Acknowledging what your employee is saying by nodding, using interjections like ‘mmhmm’ or ‘yeah’, and repeating back what has been said to you to confirm you understood correctly
• Asking direct, relevant, and appropriate follow-up questions
• Recapping what was said and agreed upon as next steps once the conversation has come to an end

Control your own feelings and reactions

Although it can be difficult during challenging or emotional conversations, it is important that you, as an employer, can manage your reactions to what is being said. During chats about your employees’ mental health, you want to appear supportive and respectful:

• Avoid showing judgement or surprise
• Maintain reassurance and encouragement
• Avoid making immediate suggestions about solutions to their problems – find out what kind of support your employee is looking for first

Employer mental health support with Onebright

At Onebright, we are dedicated to helping employers improve workplace mental health. With over 200 UK businesses as clients, our team of experts have a wealth of experience helping employers implement and improve end-to-end mental health support and provisions for their employees.

Our comprehensive range of services for employers include:

• Mental health services
• Neurodiversity services
• Corporate mental health training
• Workplace wellbeing consultancy services
• Mental health policy assistance

Contact us today by completing the contact form below to find out how we can help you improve the mental health and wellbeing support available for your employees.