Promoting and protecting mental health in the workplace is one area that should be keenly looked at post-covid. People experienced the pandemic differently which might have negatively impacted on their mental health.
Mental health is an individual’s emotional, psychological and social well being which affects how they relate, make decisions or perform. Mental health illnesses include depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, addictive behaviors and schizophrenia.
To safeguard staff’s mental health, organizations should:
1. Create awareness on mental health to demystify what it is and what it is not.
2. Create happy and supportive work environments.
3. Have a supportive and enabling leadership.
4. Encourage staff to heave a healthy work-life balance.
5. Manage workloads.
6. Encourage physical fitness.
7. Offer flexible working arrangements.
8. Create an enabling and positive organizational culture.
9. Offer in-house or reliable psychological support services.
10. Have Human Resource policies that give mental health equal treatment as the other illnesses.
11. Discourage all forms of discrimination, racism, inequality, harassment or bullying.