It’s no secret that the workplace can be a breeding ground for mental health challenges. In this post, we’ll explore why prevention is a leading trend for workforce mental health, and how businesses can support employees more proactively.

Stress is at the heart of mental health issues we see in the workplace. It can come from a variety of sources, such as deadlines, financial troubles, or personal problems that people bring into work. In addition, issues have spiked the past few years due to the circumstances around the pandemic. When issues are left unchecked, stress can lead to mental health challenges like anxiety and depression. While traditionally dealing with stress has been more reactive supports – EAPs and teletherapy come to mind – there’s a growing understanding that prevention is the best way to deal with stress. By taking steps to prevent stress before it occurs, businesses can help their employees stay healthy and productive. There are a few key ways to build prevention into your corporate wellbeing strategy:

Encourage healthy habits

Three keys to our mental health include our diet, our sleep, and our ability to get regular exercise. We’ve all come to know the toxic work cultures that celebrate hustle culture, long hours and little sleep, to get the job done. This, in general, is bad practice. Encouraging healthy habits, such as exercise and proper nutrition, can help regulate stress levels and prevent mental health issues from arising.

Build a care culture

Employees who feel supported by their employer are more likely to be productive and less likely to experience stress-related mental health issues, in addition to being less likely to leave their role. Wellness committees and company initiatives that put employee wellbeing at the forefront may seem trivial, but they’re vital to ensuring your employees feel valued and looked out for. After all, it’s been shown that employees will leave their current employer for another role that better supports their mental wellbeing.

Provide upskilling resources

There are many resources available to help employees deal with stress and build up resilience. Resilience is a proven way to deal with stress and is a skillset that is trainable in any employee. Resilience is your readiness to face adversity. Helping employees with simple exercises to prepare for when stress comes their way can be a great tool in your corporate wellbeing strategy.

Offer flexible work options

Flexible work options can help employees balance their work and personal lives. Accommodating employees so they can not always need to compromise on their personal lives – things like daycare pickup and flexible work schedules – goes a long way to limiting needless stress and, importantly, keeping the employee happy and motivated.

By taking steps to prevent and proactively manage workplace stress, businesses can help their employees stay healthy and productive.