With mental health in the workplace becoming increasingly common (1 in 4 people will experience mental health issues in their lifetime). Sometimes it’s difficult to know what to do as an employer.

Recognising Mental Health In the Work Place

Being supportive is often our instinctive reaction as humans, but what should we be doing as employers?

Often you’ll find that the employee is reluctant to admit they are suffering with mental health issues. So, it’s important that you keep an eye out for any signs.

The worst thing you can do is to recognise there is an issue, and then do nothing about it. If you work in a relatively small company, you may not have existing policies or processes in place. 

There’s lots of different places you can go to for advice on mental health. There are lots of great websites offering advise on what stance to take as a business.

Here’s a couple helpful links that may be able to answer some of your questions:

• Mind 
• Mental Health Foundation
• Mental Health At Work 

How you as an employer can help

Like physical illness, mental illness can come in varying levels of severity. It’s not always obvious that someone may be suffering.

Telling people to “cheer up” or “get over it” may only add to the problem.

The best way to approach the subject is to really try to understand what that person is going through. Then creating a safe environment in which they feel comfortable to discuss ways that their issues affect their performance. This way you can work together to find solutions to help improve both their work and personal lives.

Supporting your employees and making small steps can have a big impact in helping them to recovery. Encouraging employees to take regular breaks and annual leave. As well as allowing staff time to recover after busy periods, this can have a huge impact in mental well-being.

Being a supportive employer sends the message that you care about the well-being of your staff and ultimately the company.

This perception can help the mental state of employees. It will be reassuring for your employees to feel that you are on their side. Whether their issues are mental health related or not, they can always speak to you about what is going on. 

A happy workforce is proven to be more efficient, more productive and have less days off ill. Which goes to show the benefits of putting your staff’s happiness at the forefront of your business. This can significantly improve the business as a whole. 

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If you would like to speak to us about your recruitment needs please see our contact section of our website. Or you can reach us on 01623 656 303 or by email recruit@turnerfox.co.uk.