It should come as no surprise that the health of your employees plays a big part in how your business is run. Unhappy employees work less productively which can impact your bottom line as a business owner. By contrast, employees who are both physically and mentally capable of taking on the job will have a higher rate of productivity and higher desire to perform within the company. They’ll also be less likely to want to leave the company and have a higher desire to see it succeed.
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If you’re an entrepreneur, what are some things you can do to ensure employees are mentally healthy?
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Expand Your Healthcare Package
During the pandemic, it became increasingly clear to employers that what is included in healthcare packages needed to be changed to reflect the new reality. Offering a healthcare plan that encompasses things like mental health checks and access to mental health practitioners gives workers the opportunity to talk to a professional about whatever is bothering them. On top of that, an expanded healthcare package attracts people to your business.
Offer Telehealth Services
While telemedicine is not necessarily anything new, the advent of virtual health services has skyrocketed since the pandemic. According to McKinsey & Company, the use of telehealth services has expanded 38x what it was pre-pandemic. With a lot more people working from home, it’s become apparent that telemedicine is here to stay and that people do use it when it is an option.
As virtual care becomes more widely accepted, it also becomes more accessible. People working from home or remotely, no longer have to take as much time out of their day to visit a doctor, which in turn is better overall for employee productivity.
Offer Flexible Roles
We’re lucky enough to live in a time where a variety of different jobs can be done remotely. With employers choosing to work with people all over the world, people sometimes have to take different time zones into effect. Not only that, but offering workers the choice to work remotely and with hours of their choosing, means they have the freedom to work when they feel the most optimal.
A lot of remote employees don’t necessarily work in the same time zone or want to work a standard 9 to 5. Offering flexibility in schedules gives workers the chance to have a greater work-life balance which makes for more mentally healthy employees.
Offer Sick Time
Offering a sick leave is crucial to workers. Whether you’ve come down with a cold or you’re mentally exhausted, taking a day or two off is important for the overall well-being of your workforce. When offering sick time, a no-questions-asked policy adds a layer of trust between you and your workers. Moreover, employees who feel like it’s okay to take a sick day will then not come to work and possibly get others sick as well.
Vacation Time
Giving your employees a reasonable amount of vacation time is fundamental to mental health. Everyone needs a little time off once in a while, from upper management to the entry-level workers.
Offering generous and flexible vacation time makes workers feel like they can take a pause if their mental health starts slipping. Not only that but a company that offers good vacation time and generous paid days off is one that a lot of people will want to work for. Offering unsparing vacation time will attract top talent to your business.
Encourage the Separation of Work Life and Home Life
We’ve all probably heard of the term “work-life balance” but in our world of remote working and constantly checking our phones, it can be difficult to disconnect. “Switching off” from your work life and your personal life is a huge factor in employee mental health. If you’re someone who works remotely or from home, there are things you can do to help that separation.
Doing things such as switching off your computer at the end of the day helps trick your brain into feeling like work is “done”. If you can create a separate space in your home for doing work only, leaving that space at the end of the day, also helps in that regard.
Duffy & Duffy has put together a great list of tips that you can implement at every stage of your business that will have a positive impact on the mental health of your employees and play a direct role in the success of your business.
About Carson Derrow
