Increasing your mental health support for employees
As a business owner, there’s a big emphasis on taking care of the physical health and safety of your employees. But what about the mental health and wellbeing of your team?
A recent study by Peninsula surveyed 79,000 small to medium-sized businesses clients globally. The study spoke to 30,500 clients across Australia and New Zealand, diving deeper into the business world’s awareness and management of mental health.
Over half of Australian employers (51%) noticed more staff struggling with mental health, but very few have formal support systems in place to help team members with mental health issues.
Despite the rising need:
- 72% of employers do not offer dedicated mental health days
- Only 39% have an Employee Assistance Program (EAP),
- Just one in six provide mental health leave beyond standard entitlements.
5 important ways to boost your mental health support
Being aware of burnout, mental health and wellbeing is one thing as a business owner. The important thing is to take the next logical step and to actually upgrade your support.
As an employer, you want your people to feel understood, supported and happy. But what can you do as an Aussie small business to offer the mental health support that’s needed?
Let’s look at five core ways to offer deeper and more effective solutions.
1. Set up an Employee Assistance Program (EAP):
An Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is a confidential, free counselling service for your employees and their families. By setting up an EAP, you offer professional support for work or personal challenges, helping your team members address any mental health issues before they escalate, while also promoting a clearer focus on wellbeing.
2. Offer mental health days and flexible leave:
Normalise taking paid time off for mental health without a stigma attached. Allow your employees to use their sick leave for wellbeing purposes, and think about offering dedicated mental health days so team members can proactively manage stress and prevent burnout.
3. Offer mental health training for management and staff:
Equip your managers and people supervisors with the skills to recognise signs of mental distress and anxiety. Training helps reduce any potential stigma around mental health and promotes early intervention, so employees know they can always get help when needed.
4. Be open and transparent about mental health:
Encourage open conversations about mental health from the top of the business down. By sharing personal experiences and prioritising wellbeing in company communications, you’ll create a safe environment where your employees feel comfortable asking for support.
5. Develop clear policies and resources:
Make sure you’ve got formal mental health policies in place that support a mentally healthy workplace. This includes a zero-tolerance policy for bullying, and providing a centralised hub of trusted mental health resources like Lifeline, Beyond Blue, and Head to Health.
Promoting good mental health and wellbeing in the workplace
Promoting good mental health for your workforce is a key responsibility for any small business owner. Not only is good mental health support good for your employees, studies also show that a happy, stress-free team is a more productive and motivated team.
