Everyone makes their decisions about what they want to share at work. At the end of the day, they are many hours working. As far as we want to share, it is a personal decision but also marked by the policies and values within the company and by factors related to the social situation. Well, COVID has allowed us to talk about mental health at work. Well-being that was already on the table of most companies - there was talk of exercise, diet and even sleep - is no longer enough. Well-being now includes the psychological. The corporate world must care about employees, their physical health and now their mental health.
My daughter tells me that she has started working in a startup in the USA that she can take up to two days off for mental health reasons. If you are very stressed, you can rest for a day and recharge your batteries. You can publicly say that you need help, or that you need to recharge. In the past, when an employee was absent from work simply because he did not want to come, we talked about "functional rotation" because the employee, after all, came back more eager and regenerated and that was good. Now we can talk about it.
With some statistics that speak of an increase in anxiety from 17% of the workforce to figures above 90% as a result of COVID and confinement, it is necessary to talk about mental health and it is necessary to guarantee support for all employees if we want be competitive, retain talent or simply if we care that we are all happy (happiness and optimism were indeed talked about in companies). The number of suicides has become more numerous than traffic accidents, 50% of mental health consultations are now due to suicidal ideation, and calls to the Employee Assistance Program (PAE) related to anxiety due to the pandemic have tripled. There was talk that the third wave would be that of mental health. Now we don't know if it will be the fourth or better, we do know that it has been in our lives for some time.
Now more than ever we need to help people function in volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous worlds (VUCA). We must learn to be resilient, to have the necessary tools to live moments like the one we have lived and continue to live. Perfectionists must work on their demand, those who seek achievement must tolerate mistakes, those who seek to be validated and the approval of others must learn to move without that much-needed physical contact. Managers must learn to be there for their teams, help process the uncertainties that we do not know when they will end. At the end of the day, we must speak out and address mental health in the workplace. At last.
Healthy Work offers Employee Assistance programs, wellness counseling, and numerous courses for managers and employees related to mental health and healthy team management.