Honoring Mental Health in the Workplace

In the last 24 months, we have seen a global shift in how we view mental health.?

Collectively as individuals, we have been faced with anxiety caused by the unknown, threats to our physical well-being that can spring up at any time, financial insecurity with constant changes in the global economies, and for some, feeling alienated and grief of losing loved ones. Dealing with any one of these can take a toll on our mental wellbeing. Therefore, it is only imaginable how difficult it is when we encounter them all together. On top of this, the need to constantly try and return to a norm (whatever it may be now), stay productive and motivated at work, we are looking at extreme prolonged stress globally. Therefore, more than ever before, focussing on mental health and wellbeing is extremely important.?

At fusionSpan, we focus on a culture of caring as a core company value and how we collaborate. So when we hire team members globally, the underlying focus always remains caring first. We set up an internal Health & Wellness committee that addresses wellbeing concerns and best practices. Well-being for us is beyond just physical well-being. It includes and gives importance to flourishing Emotionally and Spiritually as well. We must address the cumulative state of ‘languish’ we all face in some aspects today.?

As an organization, we have focussed on catering to the three elements of health; physical, emotional, and spiritual. Every month we cover different self-care rituals and fitness challenges to promote and support healing and good health. On a quarterly basis, our external wellness partner has also conducted workshops on what it means to incorporate empathy and practice compassion in the workplace.

Our Health & Wellness Committee started the year focusing on the three most important tasks for healing health: Breakfast, Music, and Physical activity. In our Big Ideas sessions every other week, our Health & Wellness committee covered each of these on a monthly cadence. January started with a healthy breakfast challenge, and our team members posted a picture of their healthy breakfast every day. Getting in the habit of eating a hearty breakfast, especially when working remotely, is extremely important. 31 days of building a new habit helped do just that.?

In February, we focussed on a healthy heart, inside and out, and covered random acts of kindness. We also focused on gratitude and meditation, a much-needed reminder where we witnessed two countries go to war. We did a virtual marathon with all our team members and collectively covered 227 miles of walking, running, jogging, and cycling in 28 days; all great habits to build a healthy heart and restart our outdoor physical activities with the winter slowly declining.??

March picked up an extremely crucial element of good health, both mental and physical, that we all struggle to maintain. Sound Sleep. With constant tips on getting better sleep and a group discussion on sleep rituals, we were able to focus awareness on the importance of sleep and unconscious habits we have built that hinder deep quality sleep.?

With open dialogue about mental well-being and openly discussing it as teammates who spend so many hours a day working with one another, we try every day to build and further strengthen our culture of caring. Creating an empathetic workplace where we are able to uplift one another is our constant goal.?