Mental Health and Your Small Business

Employees who call in sick often or seem to struggle with everyday tasks. Employees and managers who seem to lose control over their emotions or can’t seem to hit rising performance targets. You may observe issues like these without realizing that they can be indicators of depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions.

In today’s fast paced economy, employees may experience stress regarding certain specific job duties, the way they receive feedback in the office and how they interact with co-workers and supervisors.

No small business is immune to mental health issues. Employees with unresolved depression experience significant reduction in productivity, and they affect the entire workplace. Many times, these mental health issues result in increased liability from labor claims and even lawsuits, for what should have been relatively minor issues.

With fewer resources and employees overall, and no infrastructure to deal with these issues, smaller organizations tend to feel this impact more acutely.

There are 16 million people in depression and taking medication for treatment in the US at any given time. Out of 166 million people working, that’s 10% of the workforce, meaning you likely employ someone now who is suffering from depression or anxiety.

All this means that small business owners must take a proactive approach to addressing mental health in the workplace before serious problems arise. Here are three steps to take.

Monitor Employee Behavior and Production

Its important for you as a business owner, or for your managers, to have basic education about performance management techniques and understand how to spot issues based on the standards in your business. Your managers cannot be doctors of course, but make sure they are keeping an eye out for abnormal or erratic behavior.

Here is a list of possible symptoms that might indicate there is an issue:

• Irritability
• Lack of energy
• Difficulty focusing
• Loss of hope
• Trouble making decisions

Educate your employees

Employees should understand what’s expected of them and others around them. When you have a staff that operates as a team, and looks out for one another, issues that arise with an individual will be more noticeable and can be dealt with appropriately.

Manage Workplace Stressors

Just as with any other illness, you can’t delve into privacy issues or require treatment for mental health issues. But as a small business owner working with fewer employees, you can devote more attention to individuals and spot possible indicators of a problem. With an awareness of such problems early on, you may be able to alleviate potential strains in the workplace.

Being aware of the stressors that your employees are experiencing will give you the knowledge you need to implement new policies, reassess workloads and enforce vacation time. These relatively small steps can reduce everyday stressors and could help employees feel better about their work life.

In addition to educating employees and being aware of issues, small business health benefits should include opportunities for employees to receive mental health care. Perhaps setting up an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) or at the very least, referring employees to local counsellors.

Keep in mind, employees dealing with stress and seeing therapists could become a disability issues according tor the Americans with Disability Act (ADA), so always get advice before taking any employment action with affected employees.

Small business owners can’t always prevent issues related to mental health in the workplace, but with education, awareness and options to relieve internal stress factors, you can nurture a community of employees who work to reduce stressors and maintain strong mental health.

If you have any questions or if we can assist, please contact the HR experts at Infinium HR.