The Role of HR in Promoting Employee Well-being and Mental Health.
In recent years, the role of human resources (HR) in fostering employee well-being and mental health has grown significantly. Since employee performance, engagement, and overall organizational success are all impacted by mental health, HR departments are actively supporting and prioritizing the welfare of their employees. I'll go into more depth on HR's function in fostering employee well-being and mental health in this response.
Creating a supportive culture
A
culture that prioritizes the well-being and mental health of employees is
crucially influenced by HR. This entails creating an atmosphere where candid
communication is valued, the stigma associated with mental illness is
diminished, and staff members feel comfortable raising issues in the workplace.
To inform staff members and management about mental health issues and the
available resources, HR can sponsor awareness campaigns, hold training
sessions, and give materials
Policy Development
The
creation and implementation of policies that promote employee well-being and
mental health fall under the purview of HR. It also covers leave policies,
flexible work schedules, work-life balance policies, and employee assistance
programs (EAPs). To make sure these policies follow best practices and take
into account the changing demands of the workforce, HR departments should
review and update them frequently
Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs)
HR
departments offer EAPs as a useful tool to support workers' mental health.
These programmers provide private counseling, referrals to mental health
specialists, and tools for dealing with a range of problems both personally and
professionally. Through efficient communication and awareness initiatives, HR
plays a crucial role in promoting the availability and use of EAPs
Training and Education
Employee
and manager education on mental health awareness, stress management, resilience
building, and establishing a psychologically safe work environment can be
provided by HR through training programs and workshops. HR helps to lessen
stigma, develop empathy, and support early intervention for mental health
concerns by arming staff with information and skills
Workload Management
To
make sure that workloads are realistic and reasonable for employees, HR should
collaborate closely with managers. Unreasonable expectations and excessive
workloads can cause stress, burnout, and other problems with mental health. HR
can advise on workload distribution, offer tools for workload evaluation, and
encourage a healthy work-life balance
Conclusion
In
conclusion, HR plays a variety of roles in improving employee well-being and
mental health. HR departments can play a critical role in promoting a mentally
healthy workplace by developing supportive cultures, creating policies,
implementing EAPs, providing training, managing workloads, creating a positive
work environment, facilitating access to resources, and working with
stakeholders. These initiatives not only promote the health of specific workers
but also enhance organizational performance, productivity, and worker
engagement.
References
Barron, R. M. & Kenny, D. A., 2009. The
moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research:
Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations.. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 51(10), pp. 1173-1182.
Diener, E., 2000.
Subjective well-being: The science of happiness and a proposal for a national
index. American Psychologist, 55(9), pp. 34-43.
Ghrair, H. A., 2017. The
Role HR plays in Employee Wellbeing. [Online]
Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/role-hr-plays-employee-wellbeing-hessa-al-ghurair/
[Accessed 10 July 2023].
Meglio, F. D., 2023. How
to address wellbeing and improve employee engagement and experience. [Online]
Available at: https://www.hrexchangenetwork.com/mental-health-and-wellness/articles/what-is-mental-health-and-wellness-in-hr
[Accessed 10 July 2023].
A psychologically healthy workplace focuses and promotes the mental health of its employees. It promotes open discussion about mental health, de-stigmatizes the subject, and encourages workers to express their well-being without fear of being judged. Supportive leadership is critical in fostering work-life balance, giving resources, and being understanding of workers' mental health issues. It enables moderate workloads, emotional support, and access to resources, as well as flexibility and adjustments when needed. A psychologically healthy workplace boosts productivity, lowers absenteeism, and develops a happy and inclusive environment through increasing training and awareness, developing a good work environment and culture, and recognizing employee well-being.-
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your valuable comment, it means a lot to me and it is very comforting.
DeleteInteresting and time being topic. It's necessary that every organization to actively supporting and prioritizing the welfare of their employees. Interesting that how you described each point. keep the good work!
ReplyDeletethank very much for your great comment.
DeleteMental wellbeing is a crtitical topics which need to be discussed and practically applied in HR end . This article is a good source of data on it .
ReplyDeletethank very much for your valuable comment..
DeleteMaintaining a high level of mental health and well-being is a matter of great challenge in all environmental conditions. It is very important to bring this up in the discussion. Regardless of the organization, attention should be focused on improving the morale of employees. This directly affects the productivity of the organization.
ReplyDeleteThank very much for your valuable comment.
DeletePleasant working environment psychologically helps the growth of an organizational performance. Human are the most valuable assert of a company and long retention of employees is benefited to the company. Therefore uplift the skills of employees is very important. Bother mentally and physically trainings are equally important. Articles covers this area. Well written
ReplyDeleteThanks for your valuable comment and it motivates me more.
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ReplyDeleteWork-related stress can aggravate an existing mental health problem, making it more difficult to control. If work-related stress reaches a point where it has triggered an existing mental health problem, it becomes hard to separate one from the other. Therefore, it is imperative that the leadership of the organization take heed in the above matter since it will affect the productivity of the organization. This article clearly emphasizes more pragmatic approach in promoting employee well being & mental health. Keep up the good work!
Jude Rishendra
MBA (Batch 28)
Thank you very much for posting valuable comments and encouraging me.
DeleteThanks for your valuable comment and it encourages me.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your comment. It is my pleasure to exchange ideas with you.
ReplyDeleteHaving used and actively engaged in these strategies in the workplace, I would say that you are spot on. One missing piece I see here and in the practical world is the initiative from employees to get the maximum use of these tools and cultures. Employees could be more forthcoming with what they are struggling with so that HR practitioners can provide more effective support.
ReplyDeleteThere's also the fact of hostility or approachability in HR practitioners that lead to them being considered trustworthy or not in the eyes of employees, which will decide how open employees are going to be with them. So, while providing the above tools and solutions, HR practitioners should build trust within the organisations as well.
HR should foster a culture that values and prioritizes employee well-being and mental health. This includes promoting open communication, empathy, and a non-judgmental environment where employees feel safe to discuss their mental health concerns.
ReplyDeleteEmployees' mental, physical, emotional, and financial well-being are influenced by workplace relationships, resources, and decisions. It is aided by a positive culture that prioritizes wellness, clear tasks, better compensation and benefits, insurance, and importantly employees' work-life balance measures.
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