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3 Effective Ways to Support Team Mental Health

By The SHSMD Team posted 05-18-2022 09:10 AM

  

At this point in the pandemic, the countless hours writing and rewriting messages or taking on new tasks with zero experience may have taken a toll on you and your team. If you’re still trying to process the myriad of emotions generated by this pandemic and return to a pseudo-normal work life, you’re not alone.

In their 2022 Mind the Workplace Report*, Mental Health America says the stress from work has led to other mental health concerns for 78% of surveyed employees. Additionally, 71% of employees find it difficult to concentrate at work compared to 65% in 2021 and 46% in 2018.

Citation: Adams, T & Nguyen, T (February 2022). Mind the Workplace 2022 Report: Employer Responsibility to Employer Mental Health. Mental Health America, Alexandria VA.

As leaders, it’s critical to recognize that members of your team are struggling with their mental health on a daily basis. For some, this condition pre-dates COVID-19. For others, it’s an entirely new experience. Either way, the struggle exists and it’s important to know how to identify and respond to people who need support and care.

Here are three effective ways to get a pulse on your team’s mental health and build a foundation of resilience:

  • Institute a weekly team check-in.
  • Consider accommodations.
  • Avoid toxic positivity.

Institute a Weekly Check-In

Mental health in the workplace authors A. Johnson and A. Herron* suggest instituting a weekly check-in to identify struggling employees and catch them before they reach the tipping point.

  • For best results, the leader needs to address the stigma that may impede having an honest conversation. By being up front the leader can share the why of these conversations, what will be done with the information, and the privacy surrounding the conversation.
  • This creates a shared vocabulary for your team and normalizes receiving help. Leaders should know it’s okay if they don’t feel like they can handle a situation appropriately and that they should not feel afraid to ask for help or connect to additional resources (like an EAP) to support their employees.
  • Use a scale, ranking, or image-based tool and send it via QR code, internal messaging app, or anything available to in-person and remote staff.
  • To maximize honesty in the replies, consider making it anonymous. However, the leader needs to know who to help and to identify the individual so that they can refer or connect the person to a treatment option or solution if there is a need.

No time or brainpower available to make a check-in tool? Use this repurposed pain scale.

smiley face scale

 

Track the responses over time to identify any emerging trends – keeping in mind privacy concerns such as who is tracking this information, is it aggregate tracking, or at the individual level.  Also what will be done with this info is important to make apparent, particularly if tracking an individual’s response over time. Offer resources and support like paid time off or the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) as necessary. Data collected can also quantify the need for additional staff or new technology to decrease the burden placed on your team.

*There’s an Elephant in Your Office: Practical Tips to Successfully Identify and Support Mental and Emotional Health in the Workplace, Second Edition; p 67; A.S. Johnson and A.S. Herron

  

Avoid Toxic Positivity

As you work with your team to prioritize well-being, make sure you don’t venture into the land of toxic positivity.

Toxic positivity is the belief that you should have a positive outlook on every situation and dismiss any feeling that isn’t happiness or joy. It sounds like:

  • Everything happens for a reason.
  • It could be worse.
  • Count your blessings.
  • Just smile!
  • Positive vibes only!

Phrases like these can seem helpful or even encouraging on the surface, but they are detrimental to a healthy work environment. People cannot adequately cope with difficult situations if they’re not allowed to express the full range of human emotion.

So, if you are committed to helping your team build resilience and navigate through the murky post-pandemic waters, make room for all emotions – not just the positive ones. To reduce toxic positivity, in addition take a look at this resource, People Matter Words Matter, is a series of downloadable posters to help your employees adopt patient-centered, respectful language.

To recap, members of your team are still struggling. Effective ways to get a pulse on their mental health and build a foundation of resilience include frequent check-ins, a simple way to indicate the need for additional support, accommodations, and space for the full range of emotion. With a solid plan and some time, your marketing and communications staff can emerge from the pandemic fog and be ready to take on the next health care challenge.

 

Learning More

Mental Health Awareness Month – AHA Resources

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