Mental Health in the Workplace
25 September 2020
Champions of graduate recruitment and ambassadors of well-being in the workplace, Give A Grad A Go is very in tune with the pressures of the workplace, where mental health is a hugely pertinent issue.
In the current climate with new pressures and overwhelming negativity, monitoring and looking after your employees’ mental health has never been more important. So, we’re sharing some of the ways we are working to support our own employees’ mental health, how we are collaborating to support other mental health advocates, and what other companies can be doing to support mental health in their workplace.
How Give A Grad A Go are improving mental health in the workplace
Give A Grad A Go are proud to support an employer partnership and sponsorship network made up of a selection of outstanding organisations advocating great causes. Our partner network provides excellent additional mental health support to our clients and candidates as well as our wider network.
Aware of the many pressures society places on students and graduates and wanting to build a company that supports our candidates as much as possible, Give A Grad A Go partnered with Capture Happiness - a mental health community that encourages people to seek out happiness in the world through photography. Collaborating on a number of projects and competitions, we’re encouraging our network to shift the focus from over-worrying about where and how they fit into the world and instead focus on observing the small positives in every-day life.
Understanding that mental ill-health is the leading cause of sickness absence from working and costing UK employers an average of £1300 per employee, we partnered with Charlotte Wiseman, a Positive Psychology Researcher and Mental Health Fitness expert. We’ve worked with charlotte to create a range of mental health and well-being in the workplace video guides and more recently we’ve collaborating on an upcoming free mental fitness for business webinar.
The webinar on the 6th of October at 12pm, our CEO Cary Curtis and Charlotte will be sharing insightful ways employers can combat mental ill-health in the workplace. Sign up today to our webinar:
Along with supporting mental health advocates to share useful resources on how to look after mental well-being in the workplace, we’ve also appointed a company Mental Health Officer. Investing the time and resources into a trained Mental Health Officer has helped to open up the conversation regarding mental health at Give A Grad A Go and allows our employees to know that they can come to a trusted and trained individual with their concerns. Assigning this position also demonstrates that you as an employer care about your employees’ mental well-being.
With diversity in the workplace becoming an increasingly important topic, and a huge factor in the mental health of employees, we released our Diversity and Inclusion promise at the start of the year. Working alongside Diversifying (a diversity, inclusion and equality job board focusing on BAME, Black, Asian, minority ethnic jobs, disability, LGBT and LGBTQ gender network), we are collecting feedback from our candidates and clients to enable us to implement changes and continue to evolve and improve our internal work processes.
More ways that you can support mental health in your workplace
1. Support mental health virtually
Employees’ work lives have changed completely since lockdown and adjusting to working remotely is likely to take a toll on your employees’ mental health. To look after your employees’ mental well-being as they work remotely, it’s important to make sure your people have regular contact with their managers and other members of staff so they feel connected and have opportunities to mention any of their concerns. Continue with monthly and quarterly reviews. It’s also important for your employees to stay connected outside of work hours, holding regular socials, such as online drinks, quizzes or virtual birthday celebrations are all great ways to boost morale and gain some normality back. Find more advice on running a business from home and managing remote teams.
2. Encourage your employees to take time off work
Taking time off from work has a number of proven benefits to employees’ mental health, from boosting happiness, providing mental clarity, allowing time to re-energise, reducing stress and preventing employees ‘burning out’. As an employer, it’s important to encourage your employees to take their designated time off. Make sure your employees are aware of how much time they actually have to take off (this can be done through our annual leave calculator) and actively offer to re-assign work whilst they are away and stress that all their work will be covered, so they have ease of mind whilst they are off.
3. Implement a Diversity and Inclusion policy
When employees recognise that their differences are embraced and celebrated in an organisation, they are likely to be more confident in their abilities and have a better outlook on work. Encouraging diversity, having open discussions as a company about what you can do to improve diversity and inclusion and implementing real changes, are all great ways to boost employee engagement and morale.
4. Celebrate milestones
A small way to boost your employees’ mental well-being, is to acknowledge their milestones, whether it’s a work anniversary, birthday or they’ve received a promotion, be sure to celebrate your employees’ achievements. A small gift, a day off from work or even a dedicated LinkedIn post are all great ways to show your employees they are valued and their work is appreciated. At Give A Grad A Go we have an ‘Employee of the Month’ award, and for employees’ work anniversaries, we celebrate a work ‘Birthday’ and each staff member will receive a cake - just a small token to show our appreciation goes a long way.
With 1 in 4 people affected with mental health issues, being supportive and mindful of your employees’ mental health is something every employer should prioritise. At Give A Grad A Go, we’ve seen the positive impact supporting mental health in the workplace can have on a business, so be sure to implement our steps so your employees and business can thrive. Give A Grad A Go are the UK’s leading graduate recruitment agency. If you’re looking to Hire Graduates for your business, get in touch today to find out more about our Graduate Recruitment Services.
Give A Grad A Go are the UK’s leading graduate recruitment agency. If you’re looking to Hire Graduates for your business, get in touch today to find out more about our Graduate Recruitment Services.