How to Mitigate Stress & Poor Mental Health at Work

During Stress Awareness Month, Jill Hughes, Executive Sponsor for Mental Health for Accenture in the UK and Ireland, shares why we need more courageous and empathetic leaders who are open about stress prevention. She also provides some timely advice on how to mitigate stress and poor mental health in the workplace.

Burnout. Stress. Exhaustion. Have you heard these before? As more people open up about their mental health, and a new working world emerges, employers are experiencing the true toll of the pandemic and its impact on their people.

While crisis mode is over, the embers of stress remain on the surface. In just two years, our working and social lives have transformed, the repercussions of ill health/ bereavement continue and now people are being hit with fresh worries around their financial health too. In fact, the new patterns that govern our lives has seen the cost of poor mental health in UK rising and mental health becoming a top issue of concern for employers. Businesses are offering more support for mental health challenges; but is enough being done to delve deeper and prevent work-based problems in the first place?

Now that employers are building a hybrid-working world, we have a new opportunity to mitigate stress and poor mental health in the workplace. It’s not an easy task, but here’s what I have learnt.

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

When it comes to improving mental health, it’s impossible to solve the ‘how’, without understanding the ‘why’. It’s important to understand the root causes of stress. Whether it’s about longer working hours and the erosion of boundaries between home/ work or the impact of loneliness in a remote environment, it’s important to open up conversations with people. A good leader will ask, and truly listen.

While everyone struggled in lockdown, not every experience will be the same. In the UK, there is evidence that men from ethnic minority backgrounds suffered the biggest deterioration in mental health during the pandemic. But we also know that our young people and those with caring responsibilities are still finding times tough. It’s crucial to understand the makeup of the workforce, to acknowledge different experiences, and to provide the right support for all communities. At Accenture, we carry out a regular Mental Health Pulse survey; where we understand more about how the mental wellbeing of our people and where they need help. It can be a deeply complicated challenge to tackle head-on; but we are on a continuous journey to listen and learn.

STAFF WELLBEING MUST FORM PART OF THE BUSINESS FABRIC

Businesses know that staff retention is more important than ever, with the labour market being rocked by the Great Resignation. Mental and physical wellbeing is a differentiator and is now a priority for all businesses. But it’s more than an initiative. Employee wellbeing should be a systemic thread that runs through all aspects of business ways of working and the employee experience.

Research shows that almost half of employees (45.6%) would look to move jobs if their employer didn’t provide enough support in relation to their mental health. So, businesses that retain happier employees tend to foster a culture that encourages people to stay well; for example, by setting healthy boundaries such as ‘meeting-free Fridays’ and encouraging people to really be offline during their holidays. Employee benefits are another important piece of the puzzle, enabling people to prioritise their mental health with coaching, professional support, fitness offerings or even apps to improve financial wellness, to name a few examples.

When it comes to making a difference, at Accenture, our ‘Mental Health Allies’ are crucial. An army of 3,400 mental health champions across the UK and Ireland provide the first line of support to our people to improve employee wellbeing. They help to spot early signs of stress, lend an ear, or point people in the right direction of support services, and treatment. I’m encouraged to know that so many of our people feel as strongly about being open about stress and mental health as I am. We want to encourage an inclusive environment where everyone feels they can be their authentic self in the workplace.

LESSONS FROM LEADERSHIP

It’s important to have courageous leaders who are open about stress prevention. By demonstrating that it’s okay to prioritise wellbeing, leaders play a pivotal role in improving the culture of a business and helping to ensure employees feel seen, safe, and connected.

This is particularly pertinent as it is leaders who are often most impacted by poor mental health themselves. Often under immense pressure and responsibility, leaders are often afraid to show weakness and often less likely to reach out for support.

This was something I have personally experienced in a previous role many years ago. Whilst juggling a full-on work schedule and changing home-life, I ignored the warning signs of stress. It wasn’t long before the panic attacks began and everyday activities I took for granted became fraught with difficulty. I was adamant I needed to plough onwards, ignored the triggers of anxiety and simply got on with the job.

NEW FUTURE OF WORK

For many months, I kept my anxiety challenges a secret, hoping that the problems would go away. In fact, the opposite was true. The more I kept this to myself, the more my challenges increased. When finally, I had to admit to myself that I needed help, it took the support from an empathetic leader to understand that it was okay not to be okay; and to get help. This single conversation started me on a swift road to recovery; and I have been a passionate believer in talking openly about mental wellbeing in the workplace ever since. And this starts with leaders. Hearing leaders share openly their stories plays a key role in creating a culture of openness and support.

These past few years have been tough on everyone, and many workers are now running on empty. While businesses are stepping up to improve the mental health of their people, providing support services to help ease problems when they occur, they also will need to tackle the causes head on. In doing so, they can ensure this unique opportunity to build a new future of work will have employee wellbeing at its core.

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jill Hughes is Executive Sponsor for Mental Wellbeing at Accenture in the UK & Ireland. As part of this role, she leads a network of nearly 3,500 mental health allies who provide mental health support for Accenture’s employees. Alongside this, Hughes is a Managing Director for Accenture Interactive. With over 30 years’ experience in marketing, she leads work in the health and life sciences industries, helping clients to grow by building marketing capabilities and winning customer experiences.

One in six employees are worried that raising mental health concerns at work could put them at risk of losing their job, a new report has found. Click here to read more.