Employers often ignore the importance of mental health on the performance of their staff. You will find very few organisations investing in the mental health of their employees. As a result, a large population of working individuals suffer from work-related stress and depression.
Office culture is one of the most common reasons for the excessive stress on mental health. The stress will result in subpar performance and increased operational cost to the business. Therefore, management must keep a close eye on the signs that may indicate mental health issues with the employees.
Here, you will find 7 of the most common signs that your business needs investment in the mental health of the employees.
- Decline in Productivity
Your employees are overwhelmed with the work if there is a dip in their productivity. They exhaust the mental energy to keep up with the high demands of the job. And the stress starts to take cover to cause a decline in productivity.
Ask the employees about the work situation and reduce some workload from their shoulder. Their productivity may increase after some responsibilities are shared with other co-workers. Moreover, you can take a loan without guarantor to automate tedious tasks and increase productivity.
- Low Retention Rate
A stressful work environment will make people find employment someplace else. They care less about the benefits or paycheque if the job is too demanding. You can blame the inefficient focus on the mental health for the low retention rate.
Employee retention allows you to nurture some great talents from the beginning. The loyal employees align themselves with the organisational goals to create shared goals for personal and organisational growth.
- Increasing Absenteeism
Employees suffering from work-related stress and anxiety will take sick days to manage the problem. This is true even for the organisations that don’t offer mental health days to the workers. This results in loss of productive days and management trouble with the project at hand.
Mental health also has a severe negative impact on the physical condition of the body. People are more prone to diseases such as cold and flu. The chronic stress may lead to fatigue, inflammation, and muscle soreness because of the body-mind connection.
- More Workplace Accidents
In many cases, the focus is the first thing that gets affected at the workspace because of stress. It may lead to more workplace accidents with some serious damage. It is time to help and support them, not the opposite of it.
You may have to pay the cost of equipment, provide compensation, and hire someone new. These expenses can be avoided if you would have invested in mental health. There will be some impact on the other employees and the work environment.
- Increase in Health Insurance Cost
Your company’s health insurance plan may not cover mental health treatment. As mentioned above, there is a negative impact on physical health because of overwhelming stress. Employees may develop eating disorders, health disease, diabetes, and substance abuse.
You will be spending a huge amount on health insurance because of its use during the policy term. It is cheaper to provide preventive care with more money upfront on the insurance cost. Ask your insurance provider for a quote if the stressful work environment is causing some health troubles for the employees.
- Subpar Customer Interaction
The sales department will find it extremely hard to communicate effectively with the clients. They may poorly treat the customers if they are not happy with the job. Your business will start to lose sales and some loyal clients.
Keep a closed eye on the customer feedbacks to find the cause of the dip in the sales number. The happy salesmen will keep the customers happy to make them spend more. Expect them to return if the prior experience was good enough.
- More Conflicts at Workplace
Anger and irritation are some symptoms of a mental health problem. This may lead to workplace conflicts with co-workers. Their behaviour may show a particular sign of aggression over small issues.
Managers should notice the change in behaviours of their subordinates. It is significant for the office environment and the safety of others. Uncontrolled aggression may cause some serious harm to the organisation.
- Substance Abuse
People use alcohol and drugs to cope up with workplace stress. You cannot allow them to use these products during office hours. This may lead to serious health problems and subpar performance at work.
Take the Initiative
You should not wait for the signs to make you invest in the employees’ mental health. The business will suffer along with their personal and professional life. Do not hesitate to intervene if the employees show some symptom of stress, depression or anxiety.
Take regular feedback from the staff to ensure there are no overwhelming responsibilities on them. Help them to manage the work-related stress if they ask for guidance. And support them if they suffer from mental health issues.
Conclusion
To sum up, the management should keep an eye on the signs of mental health issues of the employees. Some of them are quite evident from the performance and behaviour. However, it is better to have mental health policies in advance to avoid potential damage.
