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With an increased pressure to sustain growth and concerns over the stability of the UK economy continuing to rise, it’s no wonder that 1 in 4 British workers have admitted to dealing with mental health issues in the workplace.
SMEs are the backbone of the British economy and in order to continue to provide jobs and key services across a plethora of sectors, consideration must be taken into how mental wellness can be boosted across organizations.
Read on to find out how you can promote positive mental wellness within your SME.
Improve the communication channels
Social isolation is a prevalent issue at the moment in Britain, with the Prime Minister having recently appointed a Minster of Loneliness to combat the problem. Whether your team is small or large, you need to ensure that everyone feels as though their voice is heard and that communication is constant and open. To support this, you could arrange daily or weekly meetings where collaboration is encouraged between staff. Ensure that everyone gets involved and ask questions to elicit responses from the quieter members of your team.
Offer a more flexible working environment
While it might seem counter-productive, giving your employees more freedom when it comes to the way that they work can actually help to boost morale and is likely to make them feel that their needs are more valued. You could give staff the opportunity to work remotely for a few days out of the week, which could in turn save you some money in terms of the cost of office space.
Encourage continued learning and development
We all want to feel as though our job role is evolving and changing as we get older, so to facilitate this, you need to encourage your staff to continue learning and developing their skills. You could offer in-house training or even fund staff members to go away and take a course to boost their credentials. Remember, doing so will be mutually beneficial. Having a highly-skilled workforce will give you an edge over competitors and is also going to make your staff feel more productive and accomplished in their job role.
Plan social events outside of work
Everyone needs some downtime where they can forget about the responsibilities of their job and arranging activities outside of work is a great way to encourage staff to get to know each other. If you are keen to do this, consider getting everyone to partake in a sporting event. Friendly competition is a great morale booster and a little bit of light exercise is also good for releasing endorphins.