6 Tips for addressing Mental Health with your staff

Although mental health is not a new issue, the impact and responsibility we have as business owners is relatively new and how we approach it is not always clear cut. More information and  training is becoming available to us, but a lot of it is from larger companies with greater resources, which can be tough if you’re a small business. With that being said, I understand that one of your biggest challenges is the unknown and we wanted to share 6 simple suggestions:

• Check in often with your staff and actively listen to them.
• Ensure your staff know that their job is not at risk because they share their mental health concerns.
• Talk about mental health with your staff regularly
• Talk about the importance of enough sleep consistently
• Create a work/life balance - don’t contact staff after hours whenever possible
• Consider switching to 4 day work weeks.

I believe open dialogue around mental health and a willingness to understand where your staff are at will make a world of a difference. You may not be able to incorporate some of the programs larger companies are rolling out, but you can care. These tips are not a cure-all by any means, but they are a start and a move in the right direction.

If this is something you have been wanting to address within your business but you need help figuring out where you would even begin, let me know. I have been there and would love to help.