Top Factors Affecting Mental Health at the Workplace
A mentally healthy work environment provides the primary factors for a role to suit an individual’s needs and personality. Lacking work-life balance, diversity, employee autonomy, and adequate staffing can adversely affect employees’ mental health and their performance. This article examines the top eight factors affecting mental health in the workplace. It is impossible to avoid these mental health risks, but knowing them can help you be more productive and meet your performance goals on time.
Job control and autonomy
The greater the amount of pressure in the workplace, the greater is the possibility of stress in the workforce. This results in mental health issues and safety hazards for employees. Employees with better control over work procedures and deadlines, among other things, display relatively greater job satisfaction and motivation.
Some businesses rotate employees to perform various tasks. Although rotational work adds value to their experience, it also increases the unpredictability and stressors in employees’ lives. Rotational position diminishes employees’ attentiveness, motivation, and routine tasks, reducing overall productivity.
Keeping a work-life balance
The high-pressure, up-all-night work life can be mentally exhausting. At the same time, employees who have a positive work-life balance are more productive and happier. Successful employees who have achieved a work-life balance are the ones who plan their tasks ahead of time and combine them with their social activities. It is essential to find ways that work for you to improve your work-life balance so that you do not get stressed out.
Employees who do not prioritize their mental health are at a greater risk of harming their coworkers, being unhappy, and exhibiting poor leadership qualities. For employees to be able to adapt as best they can, they must know what affects their mental health and come up with ways to help them.
After-hours work. Another reason that affects employees’ mental health at the workplace is when they constantly work after hours. Employees’ mental health is harmed by the stress and exhaustion of working too much. This leads to a deterioration of their work-life balance.
While working late on occasion is acceptable to fulfill deadlines, working late indicates a lack of organizational abilities, both on the part of employees and their managers. Employees’ ability to manage their time effectively is critical to preventing burnout and stress. Employees’ self-confidence and capacity to handle obstacles would be boosted if they completed their duties on time. Moreover, it would have a positive effect on their mental health.
Workplace toxicity and internal politics
Unfortunately, workplace toxicity and internal politics are inevitable. Coworkers who gossip, backbite, or refuse to take responsibility for their mistakes can force you to retaliate or relent. The resulting ethical dilemmas are not only stressful but also prime factors affecting mental health. The stressors are likely to be amplified.
To avoid workplace toxicity and internal politics, all high-functioning organizations have designed policies to prevent negativities and stressors that affect employees’ mental health. In recent years, businesses have implemented a zero-tolerance policy, which means that all procedures are followed entirely and not partially. Violators will be punished accordingly, from suspension to termination. It is best to follow standard organizational policies in their entirety to avoid workplace toxicity.
Lack of recognition
Lack of recognition is another factor that affects mental health. Not being recognized or appreciated is why employees terminate relationship with their employer. In retrospect, one employee leaving or high turnover costs the employer much money. Recognition and rewards also encourage healthy competition among team members subsequently influencing the team’s collective performance.
Successful leaders understand that recognizing their employees’ contributions is crucial in creating a healthy workplace culture. According to a published study, employees value recognition just as much as their salary. A recent survey by TINYpulse found that 71 percent of respondents felt more motivated to work when they were appreciated and recognized for it.
Like most people, employees want to be appreciated and feel valued or, at least, irreplaceable. Leaders who praise their employees’ work make their workplaces warm and happy, where employees feel comfortable, productive, and engaged.
Workplace challenges
A challenge stimulates the intellect and forces people out of their comfort zones. Good leadership constantly appreciates the staff and often sets a challenge for them. When employees can deal with problems at work, their self-esteem rises, and they start to take more initiative and do more work.
When employees are not challenged, they do not achieve their full potential. Although it does not seem like a problem, unfortunately, a lack of challenges at work factors mental health. Consequently, they develop self-doubt and might consider looking for a job where they are challenged more often or are provided with opportunities. That’s why it’s critical to regularly challenge workers’ knowledge and skills. As a result, your employees will have better mental and professional health and be happier at work.
Micromanagement
Micromanagement harms the employees’ mental health. Micromanagement is not just a lack of trust, but it also reflects a lack of communication, leadership, and employee engagement. It is an indication of a lack of empowerment and autonomy. An employee who doesn’t have a lot of self-reliance and confidence often thinks that they can’t do a job or solve a problem at work.
Economic insecurity
It is common for workers to be concerned that the firm will not be able to generate a profit and so cannot pay them their average salary. Employees’ anxiety over future layoffs is a crucial cause of uncertainty, particularly if their coworkers face layoffs.
It is vital to have regular townhalls or team meetups where the management communicates the overall progress of the organization and shares with them their future goals. It is also critical to tell workers about possible problems and risks to the company’s future as soon as possible. This way, tension, and worry won’t build up in the workplace.
Health insurance
Lacking health-related benefits is also a factor in diminishing employees’ mental wellbeing. Companies are not required to offer and cannot provide health insurance to their workers, resulting from the growing cost per employee. Organizations that take a people-first approach keep track of their processes and the factors influencing employee health, both by making the above improvements and soliciting and accepting employee recommendations. They are the most qualified to assess what is detrimental to their health and wellbeing while at work.
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Workplace mental health risk factors are one of the main issues related to employer-employee relationships. It is the primary cause of concern for businesses and civilized governments. Many employees suffer from occupational stress and various kinds of anxiety disorders or depression due to the pressures at work and unsatisfactory working conditions. It can pathologically affect the mental state of an individual, interfere with their ability to work, and reduce their productivity.