In recent years, mental health has gained considerable weight not only at the social level, but also at the workplace. And the close relationship between emotional well-being and work is gaining increasing visibility as a protective factor and promoter of good mental health. With this reason and coinciding with Mental Health Day (October 10), Hiscoxinsurance company has created, in collaboration with Mentevita, a psychological consultancy specialized in companies and labor problems, the Hiscox Guide to Healthy Leadership for Managers, in order to help them identify and manage those possible emotional well-being problems that their employees may be suffering and that, therefore, could put them, their performance and the organization itself at risk.
Along these lines, the guide states that the most effective and profitable actions to create healthy work environments are those that are implemented proactively, rather than reactively. Therefore, Hiscox wants to highlight the 10 most important initiatives that managers can implement in relation to caring for the mental health of their teams:
- Carry out preventive evaluations and monitoring of psychosocial risks. That is, starting from an analysis of the organization’s working conditions and looking for those existing factors that can influence the well-being of employees.
- Mental health awareness and promotion actions aimed at managers and collaborators. Raising awareness about the impact of good mental health on the performance of workers and, therefore, of the company, must be a key pillar in organizations’ prevention strategies.
- Actions to promote well-being through benefits, workshops or initiatives that promote healthy habits and dynamics in the organization. For example, promoting exercise and healthy eating as a fundamental factor for the emotional well-being of employees.
- Involve employees in the design and implementation of workplace well-being initiatives. This involves creating a culture where employees feel valued, heard and their needs are taken into account.
- Promote clear and direct communication, promoting empathy and assertiveness. Communication is a fundamental pillar for professional success, since it allows ideas to be expressed effectively and promotes active listening to needs.
- Design work dynamics that facilitate autonomy and a sense of control in employees over their own performance. Autonomy in the workplace allows for increased employee creativity and productivity, which leads to greater satisfaction and a sense of belonging to the company.
- Promote cohesion and social support within teams making employees aware of the true importance of joint strength between members of the same team. This union will allow the teams to be more successful in each of the projects proposed to them.
- Implement work-life balance and flexibility measures. In recent years, the relationship between work-life balance and employee performance has been demonstrated. And the greater the flexibility, the greater the balance between both facets, the greater overall satisfaction and the greater commitment to the company.
- Adopt an organizational plan that ensures the constructive management of conflicts, always starting from the promotion of assertive communication and active listening to the employee’s needs.
- Promote an organizational culture of zero tolerance towards violence and that promotes good treatment and respect towards all members of the company. That the company is a “safe space” so that workers can resolve their conflicts constructively and, above all, early, so that they do not lead to other problems such as workplace harassment.
The four warning signs that managers should take into account
Beyond this decalogue of good practices, the guide prepared by Hiscox provides some alarm signals on the equipment that managers must take into account, highlighting the systematic delays in deliveries and deterioration in the quality of work, sudden changes in mood, irritability, demotivation and recurrence of conflicts, changes or high incidence in absenteeism, sick leave, presenteeism and turnover, and signs or evidence of harassment workplace, sexual harassment and/or physical or verbal violence.
“At Hiscox we have been covering managers and their companies for more than 20 years from the risks they face every day with our Liability Insurance for Directors and Executives (D&O). And we are very aware of the true relevance of protecting them to guarantee the development of the Spanish business fabric, especially in a complicated social and economic context like the current one in which responsibilities such as the mental health of teams are increasingly important. “For this reason, we wanted to prepare this Guide, as an ally that aims to provide you with tools and guidelines to detect warning signs and know how to act when necessary,” says David Heras, General Director of Hiscox Spain.