Did you know that a study in 2020 revealed that 83% of construction workers have struggled with mental health issues at some point in their career? This puts the significance of mental health awareness in the workplace into perspective.
Fortunately, more and more companies are starting to recognize the impact of mental well-being on employee productivity, satisfaction, and overall business success.
September is mental health awareness and suicide prevention month. During this time, it’s crucial for employers to understand their role in fostering a supportive environment that promotes mental health. It’s also important to consider how factors like mental health during the holidays can further affect employees, as these periods can bring added stress or isolation for many.
In this guide, we will take an in-depth look at just how important mental health awareness in the workplace truly is, the common issues workers face, and the benefits of a mind-focused approach.
We will also discuss 6 actionable steps that you can take as an employer to both support your workers and boost productivity.
The Importance and Benefits of Mental Health Awareness in the Workplace
Why is mental health awareness important in the workplace? Well, on average, happy employees are 13% more productive. While you should always want your employees to be happy, you should also know that it is good for business. Case in point being:
- Every year, collectively, the equivalent of around 12 billion working days are lost due to depression and anxiety, costing $1 trillion in productivity losses.
- The cost of workplace injuries for employers was already $167 billion just in 2022.
Reducing both losses is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the benefits of mental health awareness in the workplace. Other benefits include:
- Reducing the stigma around mental health to encourage employees to seek help when needed.
- Boosting the morale of your employees by making them feel supported, which in turn leads to greater job satisfaction and reduces your turnover.
- Improving the productivity of your workers because they become more engaged and have reduced absenteeism when mentally healthy.
Considering these benefits, employers should prioritize initiatives that demonstrate a clear ROI on employee health and wellness programs, balancing care for their workforce with business benefits. However, there are challenges that can make this difficult to implement effectively.
Common Workplace Mental Health Challenges and Mitigation Challenges
Key mental health issues remain in the realm of anxiety and depression. Especially in high-stress industries like construction or other physically demanding jobs, the mental health of workers can be particularly vulnerable to these challenges.
To give your workers the right mental health support and resources, you’ll need to overcome some hurdles.
Common Mental Health Issues in the Workplace
Some of the key mental health issues your workers can experience are stress, anxiety, burnout, and depression. Here’s how you can identify them.
- Stress and anxiety often stem from excessive workloads, job insecurity, or unsafe working conditions.
- Burnout is common in high-stress industries where workers have prolonged exposure to stressful conditions. This leads to exhaustion both physically and emotionally.
- Depression is often overlooked as it comes in many forms, but it can severely impact productivity and engagement in your workplace. Alongside chronic stress and other pressures, depression will only develop.
Usually, when you know what the problem is, you can solve it easier. So, let’s talk about the issues you might face when trying to support your workers through these challenges.
Challenges Employers Face in Addressing Mental Health Issues
It can be tough to navigate your way through a world with so much stigma. You’ll have to deal with:
- Identifying and recognizing mental health problems in time before they turn into turnover or absenteeism
- Getting proper access to mental health professionals, especially onsite
- Helping your workers overcome the stigma around asking for help or accessing available resources like EAPs
Providing your employees with ongoing health support is tough, but with the right knowledge and resources, this becomes much easier. While maintaining mental health in the workplace is indeed a collective effort, it is important to remember that leadership teams hold the responsibility for setting the standard in raising and maintaining awareness.
6 Practical Steps to Foster Mental Health Awareness
Research shows that there are 8 main best practices when it comes to supporting mental health awareness in the workplace, including culture, mental health benefits, resources, workplace policies and practices, healthy work environments, leadership support, outcomes measurement, and innovation.
While you can’t tackle everything all at once, small actions build up to make big differences over time. Here are our 6 practical steps that will help you set a strong foundation:
1. Organize Mental Health Awareness Campaigns
Consider hosting campaigns, webinars, or mental health awareness weeks to bring attention to mental health.
Actionable step: In high-risk industries, you can smoothly integrate mental health checks into regular safety briefings or meetings to normalize discussions about mental health awareness in the workplace.
2. Provide Access to Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs)
One of the most effective initiatives involves offering EAPs to your employees. This makes sure they will have access to confidential counseling, financial advice, and even legal assistance.
Actionable step: Partner with an EAP provider to get the best deals on therapy sessions, as well as receive help in de-stigmatizing seeking help through internal communications and events.
3. Tailored Industry-specific Initiatives
When it comes to high-stress industries, mental health support becomes tough. So, you should investigate creating peer support groups or appointing mental health ambassadors within your company to leave a better impact.
Actionable step: Identify a mental health champion in your company and train them on how to offer basic mental health support to their colleagues.
4. Offer Regular Health Check-ins
Regular health check-ins (both physical and mental) can help identify early signs of mental health issues. You can do these either with the help of construction site medical services or through virtual telehealth services.
Actionable step: Managers should do monthly or quarterly check-ins with employees and healthcare professionals to talk about mental health topics like stress levels, as well as physical health problems.
5. Promote an Open Dialogue and Mental Health Training for Managers
Managers have a lot of influence in setting the tone for mental health discussions. If you train them to recognize mental health warning signs and foster a supportive environment, your employees will feel more comfortable bringing up their mental health challenges.
Actionable step: Organize mental health training workshops for your managers to help them build emotional intelligence, identify symptoms of stress or burnout in their teams, and offer support or resources.
6. Use Onsite Medical Services to Address Both Physical and Mental Health
Finally, one of the best solutions of all is investing in hands-on onsite healthcare. Onsite services allow for continuous monitoring and quick intervention, creating a work environment where employees feel genuinely supported. And since they are generally an objective third party, employees may feel more comfortable seeking help without concerns about judgment or bias.
Actionable step: Implement onsite medical services to proactively monitor the physical and mental health of your workers, creating an environment that promotes the holistic well-being of teams.
What is the Connection Between Physical and Mental Health in High-stress Workplaces?
The mind is not separate from the body. The two are, in actual fact, more deeply intertwined than we realize. To really solve one or the other, we need to put more of a focus on whole employee health.
How Physical Strain Impacts Mental Well-being
Chronic physical pain, fatigue, or injuries can lead to mental health conditions like depression or anxiety. At the same time, workers under mental strain can be more prone to physical injuries and have slower recovery times.
Workers under constant physical stress are more likely to experience mental strain as well. All of this is especially true in high-risk workplaces, which is why it is a dangerous loop. This all goes to show why mental health in construction is more important than ever.
Providing a Holistic Solution with Onsite Medical Services
With onsite employee health professionals and telemedicine solutions, you will be able to comprehensively care for your employees. On top of that, there will be consistent follow-ups and continued support during recovery.
We truly believe that it’s important to balance physical and mental health awareness in the workplace.
If you have medics onsite, your workers can get regular health assessments to find early signs of fatigue both physically and mentally, dealing with them before they become complicated.
In remote areas where you don’t want to have onsite medics, you can rely on telemedicine to support the mental and physical health of your workers.
The right partner will be able to provide not only immediate injury treatment but also regular follow-ups throughout the recovery process, both onsite and through digital telehealth platforms. That’s how it works at JobSiteCare.
This combination of onsite care and telemedicine creates a holistic approach to employee care, making sure they feel supported in both their physical and mental health.
Conclusion – Taking the First Step Toward a Mentally Healthy Workplace
Fostering mental health awareness in the workplace is the responsibility of any employer. It can create a more supportive and productive workplace. Not only will your employees be happy, but it’ll also be good for business.
For high-stress industries like construction, both physical and mental health should be taken care of. It can reduce absenteeism and boost the productivity of your workers.
With actionable steps and the right investments into onsite workplace injury care solutions or telemedicine solutions, you will be able to tackle the well-being of your employees in a holistic way.
If you’re interested in boosting team morale and wellness, consider partnering with JobSiteCare. We’d love to tell you more about our integrated onsite health solutions and how they can help you promote mental health awareness in the workplace.
If you’re still not sure about your onsite healthcare needs, we recommend taking our risk assessment quiz or getting in touch to learn how your workplace can become safer for your workers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is mental health awareness important in the workplace?
Mental health directly impacts the overall well-being of your employees, reducing their productivity and retention. On the other hand, if your employees feel mentally supported, they become more engaged and experience less burnout, leading them to take fewer sick days.
How to promote mental health awareness in the workplace?
There are many ways you can promote mental health awareness as an employer, including the creation of Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs), training your managers about mental health, and running campaigns for raising awareness. You should also encourage open dialogue and create a safe space for your workers to speak up about their issues.
What is the ROI of mental health awareness in the workplace?
On average, every $1 invested in the mental health of your employees can bring in a return of $4. This manifests in terms of savings in lower absenteeism, higher employee engagement, and productivity.
How to talk about mental health at work?
Talking about mental health in high-stress environments like construction can be tough. If you, as an employer, make efforts to encourage open conversation and give your workers access to EAPs and other mental health resources, you’ll be on the right track.
Ultimately, you need to normalize mental health discussions by incorporating them into check-ins and one-on-one meetings.
