The Importance of Mental Health in the Workplace

According to WHO, depression is the most common mental health issue that affects millions of people worldwide. Studies show that depression can cause anxiety, exhaustion, procrastination, as well as?affect?interpersonal relationships.?These effects?will?impact?productivity for an employee?battling these?issues.

Often when we talk about companies, we forget that there are people behind them. The mental wellness of employees is something that should never be taken for granted.?Mental health issues have always been a reality, but attention has increased with the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.?People?have experienced?social isolation?from?working from home, and many?have lost?their loved ones.?This has caused many of us stress. If not given attention,?stress can?lead to depression and anxiety.??

According to WHO, depression is the most common mental health issue that affects millions of people worldwide. Studies show that depression can cause anxiety, exhaustion, procrastination, as well as?affect?interpersonal relationships.?These effects?will?impact?productivity for an employee?battling these?issues.?

October is Mental Health Awareness Month, and we believe in fostering employee wellness and mental health.?In achieving this,?we've brought on ICAS, a professional service that?provides?employee well-being?assistance?to run our Employee Wellness Program (EWP). We spoke to our HR manager,?Fenass?Motswana,?and this is what she gave us as reasons why we introduced this?program:

• "We introduced staff to ICAS because we have grown so much, and it makes sense now more than ever to introduce professional counselling. We have always had in-house counselling, but some problems have become too big to handle.?
• ICAS offers counselling services to staff and their families. This helps staff improve their work-life balance.?
• COVID-19 has added a lot of uncertainty?in?our lives and affected many people's mental health. We all need someone to talk to during these challenging times.?
• We also want to create a work environment where we have conversations about mental health and support each other."?