Is Your Communication Style Mental Health-Friendly? 3 Tips to Improve Your Conversations at Work

Is Your Communication Style Mental Health-Friendly? 3 Tips to Improve Your Conversations at Work

Do you know a professional with a superhuman ability to welcome criticism? Of course not, yet for over a century, employees have been expected to leave their emotions at home and assume a Teflon-like ability to handle anything that’s said to them. Cognitive science has discredited this detached approach by proving we can’t choose to be unemotional any more than we can choose to live without breathing. ?


In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, we compiled three tips to improve communications at work and help make difficult conversations easier and more empathetic:


1.????Think of conversation as a verbal report card ?

According to Paul Zak, author of The Moral Molecule: How Trust Works , we are what zoologists call an “obligatorily gregarious species.” We thrive well in groups and don’t do well physically or emotionally for long periods of time alone.?

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The same goes for employees who are left in the dark wondering how to proceed on a project or waiting to have a performance review rescheduled. The human brain needs to know if it’s safe to proceed, and when people don’t know where they stand, it can become mentally taxing. Zak says conversation has the effect of a verbal massage, releasing oxytocin and building social trust.?

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Translation: a conversation is more than just an exchange of words; it’s a litmus test on how much you value the person you are talking to whether it’s your employee or colleague.?

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2.????Create a culture of asking for feedback?

Feedback drives performance. The human brain craves the reassurance feedback can offer, and without a proper response to work, employees can feel demoralized. The problem is that too many leaders are shy to give constructive criticism, and frankly, many employees are unprepared to hear opinions that don’t mirror their own. ?

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Psychologists have determined unsolicited feedback is heard as a criticism: “Evaluation, when it is not asked for, and when it has consequences as it does in school, is [perceived by the mind as] a threat.” To offer opportunities for growth, soliciting others for feedback should be embedded into the work culture. There is power in repositioning criticism as a data point. ?

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Translation: It’s important to collect feedback on a frequent basis and take action on that feedback. So much so employees who say their employer takes meaningful action on their feedback are 37% less likely to job hunt in 2023. Ask the right questions and be available for employees when they’re ready to give and receive feedback.?

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3.????Reframe giving a “thank you” as offering validation?

It’s well known that frequent employee recognition is a wonderful way to promote mental health. The human mind is wired to need the neurochemical release that comes from receiving a compliment from someone else. This spontaneous reaction is stimulated by the brain. ?

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What happens after a person receives positive reaffirmation for their work performance? They want to earn another one and another one - and so on. Hearing “thank you” is wonderful, but the bigger takeaway employees get from being recognized is validation that they belong. ?

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Team members who experience extended periods of time without being recognized for their contributions can have doubts or insecurity. Leaders can misinterpret their employees’ behavior as a heightened need for recognition when what they really seek is reassurance. It’s far more effective to give frequent and personalized recognition, whether it’s in the form of monetary or social recognition.?

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Translation: Individuals who say they receive meaningful recognition weekly report better well-being outcomes on a range of measures, showing its immense impact. Spread employee recognition across your organization on a regular basis. Encourage both peer-to-peer and manager-to-employee recognition.?

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Small conversation tweaks like the ones listed above can go a long way to help boost the mental wellness of your staff and colleagues. Investing in new mental health-friendly conversation habits will be time well spent.

Hope Gamble

Business Engagement | Customer Relationship Management | Outreach | Meeting Coordination

1 年
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CHESTER SWANSON SR.

Next Trend Realty LLC./wwwHar.com/Chester-Swanson/agent_cbswan

1 年

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