5 minutes for 5 tips: Mentally Healthy Workplace

By Marcus Clarke

A mentally healthy workplace is essential to ensuring that both employers and

employees are healthy, happy and productive. Below are five tips to read in just five

minutes that will help in creating a mentally healthy workplace with various benefits.

1. Ensure personal wellbeing – physically and psychologically

Personal wellbeing for both employers and employees is an important part of ensuring

a healthy state of mind and body. One way to foster personal wellbeing is through

understanding your role within the organization. This helps relieve pressure from

doing work outside of your expected scope, which easily leads to overworking. Other

measures that can help ensure personal wellbeing include getting enough sleep, doing

regular exercise, packing healthy lunches and taking frequent breaks to stand up –

especially if you work in front of a computer for hours on end.

2. Be informed of workplace policies and procedures

An awareness of workplace policies and procedures allows you to better understand

the options available should a mental health complication arise. Inform your boss and

colleagues who you trust if you are suffering from a condition such as depression or

anxiety. This will help build support in times when you are feeling down. Employers

can implement a staff wellbeing program, while workplace surveys can help employers

understand the needs of employees. This guide provides helpful information for

employers who wish to promote mental health practices in the workplace.

3. Stand up against bullying, discrimination and harassment

If you are witness to instances of discrimination and harassment in the workplace,

report this to management and take a stand to deal with unacceptable behaviour.

Workplace bullying can have devastating effects on employee relationships within an

organization and can even lead to physical violence. Dealing with a bully can be difficult

but there are several subtle methods to stand up for yourself and others. Employers

can implement team building exercises to foster stronger employee bonds and

encourage effective communication.

4. Decorate your workspace

Colour can be used to influence factors such as creativity, productivity and mood.

Decorating the office in colours can create different effects: consider hues of orange

to have an energising effect, while blue can help people focus and be productive.

Brown and green can also help give a calming and peaceful feeling. Decorating with

plants is not only pleasing to the eye but also provides health benefits such as filtering

dirty air and enhancing our concentration while working. Read here for more ways to

decorate your workspace in ways that have positive mental health effects.

5. Provide health screenings

Physically healthy and mentally happy employees are more productive and engage

better with colleagues and work practices. Health screenings can also cut employer

costs on medical expenses by catching problems such as high cholesterol and blood

pressure early on. Companies supportive of health and wellbeing in the workplace

have demonstrated lower levels of employee sickness absence levels, increased

productivity and reduced staff turnover – along with several other benefits. Organizing

work activities such as sport days and providing time each week for employees to get

active can also ensure healthier, happier employees.

--

Marcus regularly blogs at psysci, a psychology, science blog that examines the latest

research and explains how findings can impact and improve people’s lives.