3 tips to get millennials on track

Mental stress has turned out to be a burning issue at workplaces today. While a certain proportion of employees compromise their health to do their job, another have been less productive at work due to stress. Hence there arises a clear need for leaders to address this issue.

Given below are 3 simple actions that can be used by leaders to help millennials address this scenario more effectively.

1.Instill healthy working habits

As a result of competition and the desire to impress, many millennials take on too much too soon and can quickly adopt unhealthy and unsustainable working habits such as arriving early, leaving late and working through lunch. An ‘always on’ working culture can also cause millennials to feel pressured to constantly check and respond to emails outside of office hours.

This might show as high levels of productivity towards the organisation at start but can take a steep fall in the near future.

Managers and those at the top have a responsibility to ensure that millennials recognise and understand the importance of healthy working practices. Leaders need to reinforce the importance of taking time to switch off and establishing sustainable working routines that incorporate plenty of breaks, exercise and a healthy, balanced diet. Leaders can also help to embed these habits by acting as role models - even small things eating away from desks can make a big impression on younger employees.

2. Making communication key

It’s a proven fact that talking is one of the most effective ways of relieving stress.

Many millennials see high stress as the norm, they can often be reluctant to discuss the issue, or unaware of the importance of doing so.However, bottling up stress and pretending that everything’s okay can often lead to more serious, long-term problems.

Managers that workforce has structured, regular support to help them discuss and share any worries or concerns. It is evident that many employees aren’t comfortable speaking to a manager about stress. So while there has been great progress in awareness on mental health issues at work, clearly there is more work to be done in order to translate increased awareness into action.

Leaders must ensure that mental health is recognised as an organisational priority, and that this is put into practice across the business as a whole.

3. Address your stress

Ensuring that understanding what stress is and its effects is key to encouraging each employee to reflect on his or her own stress levels, working out what their symptoms are and how they can deal with stress effectively.

It’s important that millennials realise that stress is a normal part of life, but that too much too often can make us both physically and mentally unwell.

Managers responsible for overseeing the professional development need to feel empowered to broach the topic if they feel stress might be impacting their mental health. Tackling stress in the workplace starts with being able to have a conversation, and in a mentally healthy organisation everyone should feel comfortable with talking about stress.

It’s the responsibility of leaders of any organisation regardless of size or sector to take proactive measures towards creating a mentally healthy organisation to achieve success in any dimension.