LOOKING AFTER MENTAL HEALTH

MAHANYA VANIDAS, PRODUCT CONSULTANT AT MANAGEENGINE, ON EIGHT WAYS IT MANAGERS CAN SUPPORT EMPLOYEES’ MENTAL HEALTH

Stress, burning the midnight oil, exhaustion, breakdown, burnout—these are phrases often heard and just as often disregarded in the workplace. Many businesses fail to address the mental health of their employees, especially those working in the IT department. Amidst the constant service requests, emails, meetings, and deadlines, it can be hard for employees to prioritise their well-being.

With work from home becoming the norm, it’s getting harder for people to detangle their identities from work. Many people give 110% at work and tend to forget that there’s more to life than their job. On top of this, when employees are struggling to stay on top of things at work, it often affects them in their personal lives.

Behind every successful business there are three factors, or three Ps: people, purpose, and passion. What happens when people are unhappy? What does this mean for you as an IT leader, and how does it affect the business? And how do you promote a positive work culture? Let’s take a look.

How does poor mental health affect an organisation?

• Happy employees are the foundation of any successful organisation; retention rate matters. When employees are stressed, they will look for more desirable opportunities. A study by the American Institute of Stress revealed that 19% (nearly one in five) of employees quit their jobs due to stress. • If you’re understaffed, it puts tremendous pressure on your workforce. However qualified they may be, overworking them is not an effective way to get the job done. The quality and quantity of work will take a hit. Forcing employees to rush to complete their daily tasks results in poor judgment, wrong decisions, and errors that could potentially affect customers, too. • Negative interactions between employees can quickly turn into insubordination. This can jeopardise the welfare of everyone involved.

The result of poor mental health in your employees is a quantifiable loss in productivity. When your organisation

is performing poorly, it’s important to determine why. Are employees stressed over their workload? Stress can have a major impact on productivity, so if your employees are feeling stressed, it’s essential you find and address the cause.

What you can do to help your employees

Truth be told, there isn’t one particular path or defined solution to handle such a sensitive issue. It’s up to you as a change maker to discover what doesn’t work. Once you’ve identified your problem areas, you can focus on providing a longterm, sustainable solution.

1Help yourself, then help others To help others, you first have to help yourself. Ensure you are in the right headspace. No job is 100% stress-free, but if you find yourself overwhelmed, it might be time to reevaluate your workload and delegate some of it.

Next, help others. Ideally, your organisation’s HR department should organise training sessions to help you spot the signs of a coworker in distress. Even if it doesn’t, try to communicate with your team and see who could use some support. Anonymous suggestion boxes and surveys are also an effective way of assessing your team.

2Pay attention to workplace culture Create an environment that helps employees look forward to Monday. Some workplaces don’t have a dress code or strict work hours. Working 12 hours a day in suit and tie doesn’t automatically translate into quality output. Once you stop focusing on the smaller details and look at the bigger picture, everything else falls into place. Work-life balance is essential, and every organisation should emphasise it.

3Make use of resources Admins should have a streamlined way to help employees. Whether it’s a help desk portal, an emailing system, or a texting channel, it has to be organised. The first thing you can do is create a uniform system as a first point of contact for employees to get help.

Help desks are incredibly useful, not just for admins, but for employees, too. They enable you to monitor the status of requests and find suitable solutions quickly. If your organisation doesn’t have a help desk tool in place, now might be a good time to invest in one.

4Define clear boundaries Your employees do not work 24/7 (and neither should you). They’re not obliged to respond right away, especially outside of regular work hours. Unless it’s pressing and you don’t have a choice, try to get everything done within business hours.

5Dedicate time and space to not discussing work A lot of organisations are now taking up Meetless Mondays, a creative twist to the popular vegetarian movement “Meatless Mondays.” It recommends that you push your meetings to Tuesday to give employees time to catch up with their work and settle into the work week at their pace. Many organisations also arrange offsite team trips because these trips are a great way to blow off some steam and really get to know your coworkers beyond the workspace.

6Be flexible The future of work is hybrid. A hybrid work model is now the most common way to get the job done. It’s effective and, most importantly, inclusive. It’s a game-changer in boosting productivity and gives employees a chance to balance their work and personal life.

7Start small Automation isn’t something to be afraid of. It’s a tool and, if utilised properly, can be a huge benefit to your business. Many small-to-medium-sized businesses avoid automation because they’re worried it’s too complex. But if a task needs to be carried out multiple times, it should be automated. It allows your staff to focus on more essential tasks instead of repeating the same simple tasks over and over. Automation helps you save time, lower operational costs, and collect quality data with which you can make well-informed decisions.

How can we talk about automation and not mention AI? In today’s fastpaced world, nobody likes waiting. Everything needs to be done quickly and correctly, and AI is the best way to deliver on that front.

If you’re hesitant, consider starting with low-level automations. Test the waters by using automations to monitor servers and send out alerts for low disk space or routine recycle bin cleanup. By eliminating lower-level tickets, you can maximise the ROI on the cost per ticket.

8Invest in mental health Investing in employees’ mental health is just as important as any insurance policy. The World Health Organisation has found that for every dollar put into treatment for common mental health disorders, there’s an ROI of four dollars in improved health and productivity.

Your team’s performance is a reflection of your success as a leader. Spend some time each week checking in with your team. A simple, “How are you?” is more powerful than you might think. We’ve already talked about how we promote a positive work culture; now it’s important to reflect on what you can do to maintain this culture in your organisation.