Mind Yourself: Mental Health Awareness Month

As we discussed in our February article “HR You Okay? Battling Burnout In HR Professionals”,HR pros are especially vulnerable to workplace-related mental health challenges. This is due inpart to the nature of the job. The cruel irony? The employees who are likely to be performing themost emotionally laborious work in an organization are the same ones who are likely to bestruggling with mental health issues of their own.

Surveys from some of the world’s leading experts in consultancy and public health suggestmore than half of the world’s workforce has experienced struggles with mental health. But don’tlet the stats overwhelm you - the fact that we have these numbers at all means that theconversation about mental wellness in the workplace is open and transparent. That’s goodnews.

Not only are we chipping in with our two cents with this article, but we’re also equipping HRprofessionals and managers with some helpful resources to open up or continue theconversation about mental health in the office.

Heads up: most of us have experienced mental health issues in the workplace

According to a 2022 study on mental health in the workplace by McKinsey, 60% of some 15 000respondents interviewed from 15 countries reported experiencing at least one mental healthchallenge at some point in their lives. That means that the overwhelming majority of the currentworkforce has been directly or indirectly affected by mental health issues.

Interestingly, the study suggests that no demographic is immune to experiencing challengeswith their mental health (although Gen Z seems to be faring the worst, especially in Asia andEurope). We all experience challenges with mental health challenges ranging from burnout andinsomnia to severe anxiety disorders. And it pays for employers to address these experiences head-on.

The World Health Organization tells us that 12 billion working days are lost every year todepression or anxiety alone. Furthermore, depression and anxiety cost the global economyUSD 1 trillion annually because of reduced productivity. The residual stigma surrounding mentalhealth challenges may prevent people from seeking help, trapping them in a terrible doublebind.

Mental health issues affect employees’ confidence and identity at work, their productivity, ratesof absenteeism, and the ease with which they can gain or retain employment. Work can providea valuable sense of structure and security for people recovering from mental health issues, butour jobs can also contribute to worsening mental health. Sometimes, nobody knows that betterthan HR professionals.

Heavy are the Heads of Happiness: HR faces unique mental health challenges

If you’re new around here, you should know that we refer to HR professionals as Heads of Happiness. Sure, HR has a ton of important administrative roles - but, in most organizations, HRis dedicated to optimizing the satisfaction and contentment of the people they work with. In noncorporate terms, we’re here to spread good vibes

So it’s kind of ironic that the people who are responsible for the happiness of an organizationcan be experiencing such unhappiness in their roles. In a February article of this year, HR Brew featured two anonymous HR professionals who spoke about the mental health challenges whichcaused them to consider leaving the profession altogether.

“Andre” came the closest to quitting when he was asked to mediate a conflict between two coworkers, which rapidly became a screaming match. “This isn’t what I’ve been trained on”, herecalls thinking. “This isn’t something I ever thought I’d have to deal with.” On top of conflictmediation, Andre was often called in to deal with miscellaneous tasks ranging from IT support toresponding to late-night calls about a broken front door at the office.

The sheer diversity of the tasks that Andre was pulled into speaks to an industry-wide problem:organizations tend to treat HR professionals as multi-tools. “The field requires you to doeverything at once,” writes Reddit user Maximum-Ambassador21 on r/humanresources. It canbe challenging to set boundaries around what you are and aren’t willing to do because, asAndre describes it, as the HR “people person”, he was supposed to support all problems.UK-based consultancy Sage confirmed with a 2022 study that the role has evolved significantlyover the past three years and that HR pros are struggling to execute everything that now fallsunder their responsibility. Some 95% of HR pros interviewed in the study agreed that they hadtoo much work, partly because they’re dealing with strategic functions in addition to theadministrative tasks long associated with the job. HR has traditionally been responsible forhiring, firing, compliance, and then some - and the “some” is causing significant strain.

What can we do to continue improving mental health in the workplace?

So, what is the solution to the mental health challenges faced by HR professionals andemployees alike? If you’ve done any kind of reading into mental health, you’re likely to have runinto the buzzword of the decade: boundaries.

It appears that the best way to protect your mental health is to set and maintain healthyboundaries and to align yourself with a greater purpose - and that goes for relationships insideand outside of the workplace. Easier said than done, right? Fortunately, there are plenty of greatresources you can consult to help you in your journey to better mental health in the workplace.World-renowned relationship therapist Esther Perel hosts a wonderfully insightful podcast called How’s Work? in which she explores how the quality of our relationships affects the quality of ourwork lives. Although the couples on Perel’s couch are often friends, family, or lovers in additionto being co-workers, their eye-opening conversations are a rich resource for any professionalwho is interested in the psychology of work (hello Heads of Happiness, we’re looking at you).We recently co-wrote an article about The Benefits of Mindfulness in the Workplace withZenefits. Bringing a meditation app like Calm to the workplace is one of the most accessibleways to implement a structured mindfulness program in the office. Oh - did we mention that youcan do that with Gifted? Workest by Zenefits is also a great resource center for HRprofessionals seeking tips on how to approach mental health in the workplace (amongst otherthings).

McKinsey might have the final word on how to promote positive mental health in the workplace:many companies, they report, “may benefit from reinforcing behaviors that leverage the powerof kindness - which recent research has highlighted as a powerful path toward greater empathyand compassion for others, along with greater well-being for the individual practicing kindness.”You hear that, folks? It’s cool to be kind. And it’s easy to be kind with a sidekick like Gifted. Byautomating your gifting and recognition strategies, it’s never been easier to spread a littlekindness and joy around the office