The Importance of Mental Health in the Workplace

By: Feridee Alabí, Litigation Manager

Supporting mental health and promoting employee well-being are becoming increasingly prominent on companies' agendas. Enjoying adequate well-being and mental health can be a fundamental tool for improving employee engagement and business performance.

Employment provides life goals, financial resources, and identity, elements that have an undeniable positive influence on mental health. A workforce with good mental health is willing to strive in their work, achieve greater productivity and safety, and show commitment and loyalty.

However, mental health issues present numerous challenges for employers, such as lack of support, information scarcity, absence of a prevention culture, the complexity of the phenomenon, and especially the difficulty of addressing problems if they originate outside the workplace. For small and medium-sized enterprises, the challenge is the lack of necessary resources.

Mental health is related to an individual's emotional, psychological, and social well-being and affects how a person thinks, feels, and acts. It also influences how they handle stress, relate to others, and make decisions. Mental health problems stem from a complex combination of biological factors (such as genetic characteristics or neurological disorders), psychological factors (such as emotion management mechanisms), and social or environmental factors (such as poverty, urban life, or educational level). Work is midway between all these interrelated factors. While work can have a direct, both positive and negative, effect on mental health and well-being, mental health at work also depends on the individual's mental health outside of work.

Safe and healthy work environments are not only a fundamental right but are also more likely to minimize tension and conflicts in that environment and improve staff retention, as well as work performance and productivity. Conversely, the lack of effective structures and support at work, especially for those living with mental disorders, can affect people's ability to be effective and enjoy their work, undermine attendance at work, and even prevent them from getting a job.

Risks to Mental Health at Work

It has been identified that risks to mental health at work, also known as psychosocial risks, can be related to job content or schedule, specific workplace characteristics, or professional development opportunities, among other things. 

Some identified risks include: 

•Insufficient capabilities or underutilization of skills at work.

•Excessive workload or pace, lack of staff.

•Excessively long, antisocial, or inflexible hours.

•Lack of control over work design or workload.

•Unsafe or poor physical working conditions.

•Institutional culture that permits negative behaviors.

•Limited support from colleagues or authoritarian supervision.

•Violence, harassment, or bullying.

•Discrimination and exclusion.

•Poorly defined job roles.

•Insufficient or excessive promotion.

•Job insecurity, inadequate compensation, or lack of investment in professional development.

•Conflicting demands for balancing family and work life.

While psychosocial risks can be found in all sectors, some workers are more likely to be exposed to these risks than others due to the nature of their work or the environments in which they operate. Health, humanitarian, or emergency workers often perform tasks that carry high risks of exposure to adverse events, which can negatively affect their mental health.

Protecting and Promoting Mental Health at Work 

To protect and promote mental health at work, competencies must be strengthened to recognize and address mental health issues in the workplace, particularly among those responsible for supervising others, such as managers. 

The WHO recommends the following to protect mental health: 

–•Train managers on mental health to help them recognize and respond to the difficulties of those they supervise with emotional distress; develop interpersonal skills like open communication and active listening; and better understand how work stressors can affect mental health and how to manage them.

–•Train workers on mental health issues and awareness to improve knowledge in this area and reduce stigma around mental disorders at work; and

–•Interventions aimed at individuals to develop skills to manage stress and reduce mental health-related symptoms, including psychosocial interventions and opportunities for recreational physical activity.

Given the impact of work life on individual mental health, it is important for employers to take practical organizational-level actions to foster the good mental health of their workers. Some of these practices include:

•Balancing the workload.

•Ensuring moderation between work and family life.

•Daily practice of self-care actions.

•Taking care of physical health.  

•Promoting a healthy lifestyle physically, nutritionally, cognitively, socially, and spiritually.

•Proper distribution of workload.

•Diversification of tasks.

•Ensuring rest time, respecting work, and rest schedules.