You must have frowned while reading the headline, right? You may be thinking about how human resources is even related to mental health. But yes, human resource and mental health is fully related. Sounds interesting, right? People only think that human resource means recruiting employees, monitoring employees’ work, how they are doing their tasks, firing employees and giving salary. But human resources is a vast topic and the responsibility of the human resource team is enormous for example looking after the condition of mental health of the employees.
In recent years, the mental health in the workplace concept has grown significantly, HR department realizes that fostering well-being isn’t just a moral obligation it’s a strategic priority. HR department realizes that stress, workload, rough behavior from leaders, poor communication and unfriendly environment are some of the factors that contribute to anxiety, burnout and depression in employees which eventually decreases productivity and hinders company growth. So, the HR department thought that giving more and more tasks to employees was not the solution because it ultimately destroyed the company’s profit rather taking care of employees is the real authentic solution to getting work done more efficiently and timely.
So, why does ‘Mental Health’ really matter to business outcomes?
In business, there are some tangible costs and some intangible costs. Ignoring mental health can have tangible costs for business, how?
Decrease Productivity: when employees feel stressed and burned out then they lose their focus and the mood for working which decreases their efficiency and output.
Higher Absenteeism: Employees who suffer from mental health-related issues take more leaves and these frequent absences impact team dynamics and deadlines.
Down-hearted employees: Employees who face mental health-related issues remain gloomy all the time and this spoils the office environment.
Hinders collaboration: A monotonous office environment where ‘work and only work’ is the main topic destroys the creativity of the employees and they feel exhausted to try something in their own way and thus teamwork doesn’t work.
Practical Initiatives by HR for Mental Health
The HR department is a creative department in the office. The HR department is for solving problems. So, when HR found that mental health is such a big issue what initiatives they should take to bring back the joy among the employees and restore productivity?
Mindful Programs: The HR department can arrange mindful workshops or meditation sessions frequently. This can help employees to manage their stress.
Prayer: Make a prayer room and give employees breaks so that they can pray. This will also help them to alleviate stress.
Counseling: Giving counseling service whenever an employee feels down will help to remove mental health-related issues.
Quiet Spaces: Creating quiet zones in the office allows employees to decompress during stressful times.
Give Small Tasks: Don’t give workload to employees rather giving them small tasks and setting an ideal time to finish the task can help save employees from burnout.
Real-life example
Google: Google has been a pioneer in dealing with mental health-related issues of employees. Google offers mental health support through counseling services, mindfulness programs and monitoring every employee individually.
Unilever: Unilever has a particular program just for the well-being of the Employees called “Wellbeing Framework.” This program offers training for solving employees’ stress. Their initiatives have reduced absenteeism and improved employee satisfaction scores.
Starbucks: Like Unilever, Starbucks has its own program for supporting its team members which is called, “Mental Health First Aid”
The Future of HR and Mental Health
As technology is developing everyday HR department is also taking new initiatives to solve mental health-related issues such as,
Technology Integration: The HR department is building apps and platforms to monitor their employee’s stress levels and give therapy, and guided meditation according to the level.
Hybrid work Models: nowadays many companies offer both office and work-from-home setups. So that whenever any employee feels burnout they can be in their home and finish their work whenever they feel good.
Offer snacks and breaks: HR departments now offer snacks, and lunch to employees and also give small tea breaks so that employees can talk to each other and they can finish their work with full energy and this really works.
The synergy between mental health and HR is transformative, shaping workplaces where people can thrive. By prioritizing mental well-being, HR not only supports individuals but also strengthens the organization’s foundations for long-term success.
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Writer,
Rifat Bin Zaman
Intern,
Admin and Human Resource Department