Why should you be looking after Number One?

So you’re a business owner, manager or employee – who is Number One?

YOU ARE….

Being in a business whether large or small and working at whatever level you are at can be very exciting, a bit of a rollercoaster and also very stressful. Sometimes we ignore the effect that stress has on us both physically and mentally until it’s too late and we experience burnout, exhaustion and sometimes breakdown.

A business isn’t just about the clients, your services or products it’s about the people in that business, no matter what level of seniority they have.

It’s essential to look after yourself first though. After all, if you don’t look after yourself then you can’t look after anyone else and someone else is going to have to look after you……

Remember the example of taking a plane flight and the instruction – “Always put your oxygen mask on first, before helping others……”

Keeping ourselves physically healthy, mentally healthy and emotionally healthy reaps dividends in terms of productivity, turnover and profit for the business.

So why do we put ourselves last on the list for looking after ourselves? Is it:

• We don’t feel we are important enough?
• The place will collapse if we’re not there to run things?
• We’re just trying to keep the ship afloat during these challenging times?
• We can’t “afford the time”?
• If we don’t work, we don’t get paid….

Here’s some ways you can look after yourself, so you remain mentally as well as physically well:

• Do something that you really enjoy, away from the work environment (preferably outdoors in the fresh air, weather permitting). Build it into your regular routine.
• Set clear boundaries between work time and home time. Switch off your work phone (yes – I know that’s hard to do), your emails and don’t send or respond out of your office hours. Unless the building is burning down – it can wait.
• Know and recognise what causes you stress (triggers) and work out ways to dilute, alleviate or avoid them. If you can’t do that – develop a routine of breathing techniques, mindfulness and positive affirmations to help you to reduce and address them.
• Remember that you “can’t control the uncontrollable”, whether this be global or national issues. You can do your bit in terms of giving support, donating or raising awareness but you can’t sort the worlds problems out. Choosing how to respond is most important.
• Be kind to yourself (and others) – we’ve all been through and are going through tough situations that we didn’t predict or bring about ourselves and it’s ok to be sad or frustrated that things may not have panned out the way we planned – but we can still plan a way through, it just might not be the plan we anticipated.
• Ask for help – remember you are human and we all need help sometimes.

There’s still a stigma around poor mental health across society. We all have physical health and we all have mental health.

Reducing the stigma of poor mental health is essential. As a society many of us have been brought up to regard it negatively, not to talk about it and view people with mental health challenges as somehow weak, unreliable and unwanted in the workplace.

If someone breaks their leg, has to take time off with an illness, we send them cards, flowers and wish they get well soon to return to work.

That’s not the same if someone is off sick due to stress, anxiety and has mental health issues. Even when they return to work they may be regarded with suspicion as to how they’ll cope - will they be in floods of tears all time and are they reliable?

Here’s some ways you can reduce stigma in the workplace and your business:

• Look at the facts – there’s plenty of easily available information out there from trusted and reputable sources on the statistics, the financial and human impact on a business of poor mental health.
• Think about what your own attitudes are – where did they come from, who influenced you and are those attitudes valid or outdated and inaccurate.
• Choose your words carefully and avoid stereotypes. Perhaps say “healthy minds” initially instead of “mental health” if it’s going to introduce a level of acceptance into your workplace.
• Challenge people who talk negatively……
• Support people who may be struggling – you’re not there to address all their challenges but you can signpost them to organisations that can.
• Develop an online resources / information pack and host it on whatever centralised system staff can access.
• Print up posters from MIND and other agencies with support phone numbers and addresses on – stick them behind the doors in the toilets as well as in areas where staff congregate.
• Train appropriate staff to be Mental Health First Aiders.
• Put Mental Health Awareness training on the list of compulsory staff training.
• Develop and implement a Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy across the business. This needs to be in consultation with EVERYONE or it’ll sit on a shelf…..
• Remember the law – Mental Health can be considered a disability under the Equalities Act.

TALKING about mental health shows great leadership – no one is infallible and senior leaders who set an example of talking about their own mental health issues means others will feel more comfortable talking about it and it will become accepted.

What’s the ROI though?

The statistics are quite shocking – MIND state “1 in 4 adults will experience a mental ill health episode during their working life” – that’s 25% of the workforce. Billions are lost from the economy every year due to poor mental health.

Sadly the suicide rate is rising dramatically, when people feel they have no choice and no way out of their situation.

After all this – what impact will investing in people’s mental health and wellbeing have on a business?

DeLoitte quotes the ROI is ￡5.3 for every ￡1 invested. So an investment of ￡5.3K gives a return of ￡26.5k and so on upwards.

A relevant statistic from their updated report of 2022 “Mental health and employers. The case for investment – pandemic and beyond” states that it’s more cost effective to introduce a whole business approach to mental health and wellbeing, rather than wait till a crisis hits and then giving support on an individual basis.

Looking at these reasons and the statistics, can you afford firstly not to look after Number One and secondly - after those you work for or work with?

If you want a chat about any of this – give me a shout

Here for you

Here for your staff

Here for your business

[email protected]

www.joinedupwork.co.uk

https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/suegrogan/