R U OK? Day 2022
Photo by LinkedIn Sales Solutions on Unsplash
What is R U OK? Day
This year, falling on 8 of September, R U OK? Day is a national initiative that encourages all Australians to ask their friends, family, and colleagues an important question – ‘are you ok?’
One in five individuals experience mental health illnesses in their lifetime. However, there is still stigma that surrounds the topic of mental health. R U OK? Day aims to normalise conversations that are generally difficult to have.
It is also an opportunity for employers to educate their employees about the importance of checking in on their colleagues and promote a culture where employees feel safe enough to answer honestly.
To ensure employee wellbeing, it is important for employers to firstly be informed about mental illness and acknowledge that:
It is common.
It is caused by various factors (genetic, biological, social and environmental).
People suffering from a mental illness cannot just ‘get over it’.
Most of the mental illness are treatable with proper treatment.
To increase employee engagement and create a healthy workplace environment it is important for employers, in particularly the leadership team, to actively support mental wellbeing, through everyday actions and implementing initiatives.
Why Support Mental Health?
Workplaces that promote mental wellbeing are:
more productive
attract and retain better employees; and
can reduce turnover by up to 51%.
So, mentally well workplaces are good for both employees and the business.
What Can Employers Do?
Below are some initiatives employers can implement to support employee mental health in the workplace:
Introduce a mental health and wellbeing policy: to remove stigma around mental illnesses and highlight that employee mental health is a priority and support is available if required.
Have an employee assistance program (EAP): to provide confidential 24/7 qualified counselling for employees to utilise if required.
Create social groups: with work from home being common practice, it can be difficult for employees to connect with one another and feel comfortable enough to share problems. Therefore, hosting virtual or in person team building games can allow employees to bond, connect and collaborate.
Encourage learning: without the opportunity to learn and develop employees can become despondent in their role and combined with other factors it can lead to poor mental health. Therefore, employers should provide employees with learning and development opportunities (online learning courses, mentoring and coaching).
Reward and Recognition: positive reinforcement through reward and recognition (monetary and/or non-monetary) can be beneficial to individuals struggling with their mental health.
Have mental health champions: train employees to become mental health champions in the workplace - individuals that employees can talk to about mental health.
R U OK? Day is a great initiative which encourages the conversation. However, it is important to remember to ask that question every day to have a true impact.
For employers that want to thrive financially and culturally, employee wellbeing initiatives are key to a happy, heathy, and productive workplace.