Companies that support mental health—meaning, they talk about it, they work differently, they offer resources and normalize people using them, they train their leaders and managers to know how to support employees, and they hold people accountable for prioritizing mental health—see a 5:1 return on investment. Some of these companies might even (gasp) work fewer hours, but they are working better, smarter, more sustainably. In other words, they are more productive and higher performing.
Focus on sustainability.
If you are assuming overwork is a strategy to achieve high performance, then you are accepting that your employees are replaceable. Start thinking about the sustainability of work for the long term. DeAnne Aussem, Leadership Development & Well-Being Leader at PwC shared the importance of aligning mental health and well-being goals with other firm priorities. “As a Firm, we now have a shared understanding that if you prioritize a culture of flexibility, cultivate team dynamics that drive well-being habits and empower your people to embrace mental health on their own terms, not only will you likely have happier and more productive employees, but the business will ultimately be higher performing.” Mental health is not just an HR issue. Support for mental health needs to be strategic and woven into your business goals and practices.
Proactively give people options for when, where, and how to work.
We all work differently. This is true of individuals with mental health conditions and symptoms; it’s true of parents juggling caregiving and work. Yet, we often try to establish single ways of working and waste people’s energy as they try to morph into that one model. Ask people what they need. Often, no-cost tweaks can help people thrive. Does someone need a two-hour block in the morning to help their child begin virtual school or an hour every Friday for therapy? Leaders need to start this conversation because often, people don’t feel comfortable asking for these small flexibilities for fear that others will think they aren’t dedicated or focused on work. When urgent issues arise, be transparent about why the urgency exists and give people autonomy to work flexibly to achieve the goal. Then reset to a more sustainable pace, rather than living in the land of “always urgent.”
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