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Oh, how different the workplace looks today compared with before COVID-19.
The pandemic forced so many changes on us overnight — some good, some not so much.
One positive: Most organizations sharpened their focus on employee mental health. While the emphasis has grown, gaps remain when it comes to actually connecting struggling workers with resources.
Arkansas Business convened a group of Arkansas CEOs to discuss this last week. They shared a trove of ideas, but one kept coming back up. A culture of mental wellness starts at the top. Executives must show empathy and lead by example.
“If we’re not working into the conversation ‘Last week when I was at my therapist,’ I don’t know how we have any credibility to promote this awareness,” said Ken Clark, the founder and practice director at Chenal Family Therapy in Little Rock.
The research consistently shows that more of the C-suite executives reading this column will face some mental health obstacle in their career than those who will not. In fact, those in the C-suite are far more likely to struggle with stress, depression, loneliness and a host of other mental health challenges than rank-and-file employees.
And yet, executives are less likely to be transparent about their struggles and seek help. So, do you want to improve the climate around mental wellbeing at your business? If so, start by taking an honest inventory yourself. Only then can the rest of the company realistically be expected to follow suit.
That means, as Clark put it, being open when you can about your own journey. Just one moment of transparency and empathy is worth far more than the posts to the company’s intranet and announcements at the monthly all-staff meeting about the employee assistance plan.
Managers should also be sure to go on vacation and unplug from work. This of course benefits them, but it also communicates to employees that real time off is acceptable and encouraged.
Some changes are going to have to come at the societal level. As a country, we still view mental health care as a last resort, something to be turned to when an issue escalates to a crisis. We’d be far better off if we viewed mental wellness like physical wellness and normalized preventive care.
I’m confident the business community can continue to improve on this front because it affects the bottom line. People can’t do their best work if they aren’t healthy — physically and mentally.
As one CEO put it: “Mental health care is business critical, and you’re paying for it whether you know it or not.”
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