5 Practical Ways to Normalise Mental Health Conversations at Work
In 2023, 35% of workers in the UK did not feel comfortable discussing high or extreme work-related stress with their line managers.
May 13th-19th is Mental Health Awareness Week and organisations will run initiatives on the importance of talking about our mental health and getting support. For lasting impact, we should all be having this conversation year-round. Managers have a duty of care to protect and support their teams against risks and can only do so much. Here are 5 ways to normalise mental health conversations at work and start to create change.
1. Initiate Conversations
Discussing mental health can sometimes feel awkward. Here’s how you can ease into these conversations more naturally:
Be on the Lookout for Change: Familiarize yourself with your teams' usual behaviours to notice any differences. When you notice a change, speak with them privately and ask open questions like, “How are you feeling today?” or “What’s on your mind?” This approach helps someone open up about their feelings.
Use the "Two-Word Check-In" where each person describes their current mental state in just two words. This practice provides a quick insight into everyone's feelings and fosters a culture of openness and support. It can be used at the start of team meetings or 121s.
Follow up on the lows: Note who expresses negative emotions and check in with them privately to offer support. This can help them feel valued and understood.
2. Make them Meaningful
You’ll need to be persistent to foster meaningful conversations, especially since 9 in 10 UK adults reported experiencing significant stress last year. Sadly, this has become the norm for many. Here are some techniques to deepen these conversations:
Ask Twice: It's common for people to dismiss their feelings by saying “I’m fine, thanks”. Revisit your concern with phrases like, “I’ve noticed you haven’t seemed yourself lately, is something on your mind?” This shows genuine care and can encourage them to share.
Address Stress Directly: When stress is mentioned, discuss ways to manage it, such as The Stress Bucket model. This helps visualize how stress builds up and emphasizes the need for effective coping strategies. Discuss healthy ways to manage these pressures, whether through time management, delegation, or seeking professional support. Addressing stressors related to the work environment and culture is also important, the onus isn’t solely on the individual.
Address Team Stress: Your team can collectively benefit from this tool too. Next time a project becomes challenging or overwhelming, they can identify the stressors and risks and explore ways of removing or reducing them.
3. Encourage and Reward Healthy Practices
43% of UK adult workers feel that having supportive managers helps reduce stress and burnout.
Here’s how Managers can promote healthy balanced working practices that destigmatise the importance of maintaining our mental health:
Respect the Break: Encourage regular breaks and visibly schedule your own to set a positive example. Protect lunch times as no-meeting periods. You can create a points system that rewards people for taking breaks outside, get creative with it!
Leave Loudly and Proudly! Ensure team members use their full holiday entitlement and add fun details to their out-of-office message. Get them to share about their break when they return to promote work-life balance.
On-Time is Great: Encourage and advocate for people to finish work on time to avoid burnout. Emphasize that staying late is not a badge of honour, but signals that workload management needs adjusting. Schedule a review if this becomes a pattern.
4. Walk the Talk by Practicing Vulnerability
Leadership plays a crucial role in setting the tone for openness and vulnerability. Having senior leaders speak up and out about their wellbeing gives “permission” to a workforce to do the same. Do this by:
Sharing a wellbieng story: Invite leaders to share their personal mental health journey in keynotes or Q&A sessions. They can also be turned into quarterly blog posts to maintain engagement and impart lasting lessons.
Taking advantage of wellbeing initiatives: Showcase leaders benefitting from your organisation’s mental health support offering. Such as access to counselling or other wellbeing initiatives and have them explain how to access them. This reduces stigma and encourages engagement.
5. Implement Supportive Policies & Frameworks
49% of UK employees report that their companies lack adequate mechanisms to identify and mitigate chronic stress and burnout.
Often poor mental health is a result of work-related stress, and despite manager efforts within their teams, the issue may be wider and deeper within the organisation. Therefore, responsibility needs to be taken at an organisational level with substantial changes made to policy.
Integrate a Stress Policy as standard practice that provides guidance and best practice examples for managers and senior leaders.
Risk Assessments as a MUST: Ensure leaders and managers consistently evaluate potential stressors and mental health risks in the workplace.
Become Survey Savvy: Use smart surveys to gather feedback and adjust workplace policies accordingly. This feedback loop is essential for continuous improvement.
By embracing these 5 practices, employers, managers, and senior leaders can create a workplace that not only supports but champions discussions about mental health and wellbeing. Applying these tools will mitigate the risk of burnout and enhance the health and productivity of the workforce.
Written by Sophia Kalpaka
The statistics in this article are taken from:
