As a leader in C-level support, the mental health of your team should be a top priority. When employees are overstressed, anxious, or depressed, they can’t perform their best. Fortunately, there is a lot you can do to tend to the mental health of your team. Below we’ll cover the importance of prioritizing your team’s mental health and tips for how to emphasize their well-being.
Why Does Mental Health Matter?
The mental health of an employees affects almost every aspect of their work performance, including the ability to focus, motivation, confidence, and interpersonal relationships. If members of your team are struggling with their mental health, they may feel like they have no sense of purpose, which will inevitably affect engagement. Mental health can also impact sleep habits. If employees aren’t getting a healthy amount of sleep, they will make more mistakes and struggle to focus.
Be Observant
The first thing a manager can do to make the well-being of their team a priority is paying attention. You can often tell if someone is experiencing stress, anxiety, depression, or other mental health concerns by observing them. For example, they might seem more agitated than usual. Encourage your team members to be open about their mental health without pressuring them. Keep in mind that sometimes the signs of mental illness aren’t so obvious.
Be Supportive
The best thing you can do as a leader to encourage better mental health within your team is to be supportive. When employees are struggling with mental health, they often feel overwhelmed and alone. They need to know that you care about their well-being and that they have your support if they need it. Moreover, an unsupportive work environment can be a trigger for anxiety and other problems.
Be a Source of Motivation
One reason the well-being of your team is so important is the effect it can have on engagement. Employees who feel depressed can have a difficult time motivating themselves and putting the right amount of energy into their work. Almost everyone struggles with motivation from time to time, especially when they’re feeling more stressed than usual. As a leader, you can help by being a source of positive energy. If you stay positive and motivated, you can improve team morale as a whole. You can also encourage team engagement by setting goals for your team members and taking an interest in their career development.
Cultivating the mental well-being of your team members should be a priority at any organization, especially now. When your team is healthy, they are more alert, more engaged, and more productive. You not only will show your team you value them as people, but also that you want to help them perform at their best.