Most businesses don’t do enough to improve employee mental health.
Jeffrey Pfeffer is the author of Dying For a Paycheck and Professor of Organizational Behaviour at Stanford. He says that there are a few key factors to workplace stress.
- Work-Life Balance Conflicts
- Lack of autonomy, control
- People issues and internal politics
- Excessive workloads
- Lack of purpose
The way that most organizations work today only exacerbates the drivers of mental illness and undermines their employees’ health.
We are sending people to work five days a weeks, creating conflicts between work and life.
We drown them in internal processes, meetings and unnecessary meetings. They lose their authority, control, and the ability to do their jobs and feel a sense purpose.
We rule by committee and majority, denying people the right to make decisions even on insignificant issues.
Most workplace wellness programs are not effective, despite well-funded research and publicized campaigns on mental health. Instead, they focus on temporary solutions, such as yoga classes, breathwork, and mindfulness workshops.
These interventions may be effective in regulating emotions but they do not address the root causes of workplace stress.
Stop touching the stove. If you burn your hands on the stove, don’t buy more disinfectant or use bandages.
As research has shown, organizations and employers are best served by addressing these root causes. This will have a direct effect on the job performance of employees and the company’s outcomes.
Research shows the impact of mental health on job performance
An article published in the II International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health revealed a correlation between mental health and performance at work.
The study analyzed 239 companies in China to reveal that mental wellbeing is a key factor for increased engagement and innovation.
Employees with good mental health are likely to be more productive.
- Keep your employees engaged at work
- Create creative ideas
- Calculate your risks
- Improve overall results
Researchers identified two factors that improve performance by analyzing the behavior of employees who are mentally healthy: engagement at work, and innovative behaviors.
Work Engagement and Performance
Employees who are mentally healthy are more motivated not only to do their jobs, but also make better decisions.
This increased level of engagement directly leads to:
- Productivity increases: Employees who are engaged in their work are less likely to procrastinate, make mistakes or delay tasks. This leads to better quality work.
- Improved Problem-Solving: Employees who are healthy and clear-minded can focus on solving problems, instead of feeling stressed or overwhelmed.
How Mental Well-being and Innovation Go Hand in Hand
Mentally healthy workers not only perform better, but they also think more clearly. According to the study, mental health boosts Innovation.
Here’s why:
- Risk taking: Employees who are in good mental health can take calculated risks that lead to innovative ideas.
- Collaboration : Healthy employees are able to work with others and generate innovative ideas by teamwork.
The research shows that deep sleep can boost creativity. You’re more likely get a good sleep when you aren’t stressed out or anxious about your next day at work.
Why Mental Health is Important for Your Company
It is no longer acceptable to ignore the mental health needs of your employees. Prioritizing mental health has benefits that go beyond improving individual performance. They also impact the entire team as well as company culture.
Unilever’s focus on mental well-being: A real-world example
Unilever is a global FMCG giant that saw a 15% productivity increase after implementing a program called agile working. This program provides flexible work arrangements for employees and mental health support.
The company also tried a four-day week, which produced the following results.
- Reduced stress at work by 33%
- Increased strength and vigor in the workplace by 15%
- Work/life conflicts fall by 67%
Unilever’s creation of a workplace that prioritizes employee wellbeing has improved not only employee satisfaction, but also business results.
The company has now rolled out its hybrid work approach worldwide, allowing people to spend two days a week at home.
How does your company support mental health?
How does your company prioritize the mental health and wellbeing of its employees?
Leaders can go beyond the token solutions like mental health days and the band-aid solutions that were introduced earlier to tackle the root causes of workplace stress.
They include, but are not limited to:
- Eliminating meetings that are unnecessary, particularly when information can be transmitted asynchronously
- Flexible working arrangements can be implemented – such as a remote work arrangement, a four day week, or a combination of both, like Unilever.
- Reviewing policies and processes to make sure they empower your employees to do their job, rather than stripping them of control and autonomy
- Use AI and automation to reduce workload and free up people to do higher-value activities.
Final Thoughts
We are all guilty of short-term thinking, both as leaders and individuals.
If we want to be successful in the long run, we must ensure that the work our employees do is sustainable. We cannot afford to have our companies suffer from high employee turnover rates because we did not do enough to make sure that they were happy and fulfilled at work.
It’s clear that employee mental health affects job performance. We need to do more than just provide yoga mats.
