18/11/2022
As a speaker at the National Counseling & Psychotherapy Conference 2022, I was asked to give my professional opinion regarding mental health at the workplace.
Why it is important for companies to prioritise mental health and wellbeing in today’s workplace environment, or risk losing out on the best talent?
The culture at corporate environments is perpetually changing. Yet, during the last 2.5 years due to the pandemic, we have witnessed dramatic shifts in the requirements employees have in order to feel appreciated, recognised and valued by their employer. The Covid-19 pandemic shed light to the mental and emotional struggles of employees. The emotional challenges of workforce members were pre-existing but amplified by the social isolation and the fear the pandemic created. World governments and organizations realised the need for increased mental health support and education. As a result, the pandemic brought the mental health crisis to the surface and normalised the experience of mental health issues. For the first time, individuals and employees could openly talk about their emotional troubles as well as their deep mental crisis without the fear of being ostracised, fired or labelled “crazy”. Managers and CEOs were pushed to organize and offer mental health counseling private sessions along with mental health webinars for their team members.
A new healthy culture was forged during the pandemic. Employees feel deserving of being treated in a humane manner where their feelings, mental ailments and the reality of work pressure is seen and addressed. Hence, the pandemic has radically changed the fabric of the work environment. Corporations need to show sensitivity and offer practical support to their employees by providing clinical mental health services both on an individual level and group level. If not, they run the risk of losing their best talent to companies like Google who offer unlimited mental health care and webinars to their team members. Although, employers might feel this is an expensive addition to the health care they used to provide, they will quickly discover that their employees are more productive and willing to go the extra mile when they feel cared for.
#
