Small Business Guide to World Mental Health Day

October 10th was designated as World Mental Health Day by the World Federation for Mental Health and the World Health Organization in 1992, and it is now observed annually. This day's objective is to raise mental health awareness.

As a small business owner, it’s increasingly important that you emphasize the importance of mental health in the workplace as you have a duty of care for your employees. In addition, owning a business can be stressful, so you need to take the time to check your own mental health, too.

The Importance of World Mental Health Day

The purpose of World Mental Health Day is to increase public understanding of mental health issues, provide information, and direct people to available resources. This is significant for several reasons.

We can reduce the stigma associated with mental health concerns by normalizing them. Even while this is getting better, many people still feel embarrassed to talk about their feelings or go to therapy. Campaigns around World Mental Health Day can compel people to take better care of their mental health.

Promoting awareness of the symptoms of mental health problems can help keep people safe. People can have meaningful conversations with those close to them when they are aware of and can observe the warning signs of poor mental health. They are also capable of recognizing when they or a loved one needs expert assistance, and when it’s necessary to seek professional help.

How Can Mental Health Affect Your Business?

Happy, content employees come to work engaged and this results in a more productive workforce.

However, when employees feel stressed, unfulfilled, or unhappy, they become disengaged with work. Besides the human side to this, disengaged employees are bad for productivity. Poor mental health at work can also lead to high turnover in the workplace.

What’s more, mental health problems are often worsened by stressful work situations. This could be a result of poor leadership, unclear responsibilities, difficult colleagues, unrealistic expectations, or any other number of potential work-related issues. A stressful work situation can compound worries from home life such as financial hardship or family problems.

From a business owner’s perspective, there is an obligation to pay attention to mental health among workers; to raise awareness, and to encourage discussions among employees. This should be a component of the work culture you are trying to build within your business. 

Ultimately, taking the time to understand and take action to prevent poor mental health at work should lead to happier employees, which will be beneficial to your business's bottom line in the long run.

What Can Small Business Owners Do?

Of course, an employee’s mental health issues are an individual matter and, as an employer, you shouldn’t just pay lip service to World Mental health Day. You need to take the time to get to know each employee and understand their individual circumstances. That being said, there are a few general bits of advice that business owners can follow.

Make Resources Available

A significant aspect of WMHD is to spread awareness of various resources available to those in need. Extend this in the workplace by ensuring that employees have access to resources or materials they need and point to these regularly. Whether it’s materials related to money worries due to the cost of living crisis or a bank of meditation courses to help deal with stress, ensuring accessibility for your employees is vital.

Also read: 25 Tips for good time management

Communicate

Destigmatize the act of talking about mental health at work. Reference mental health drives in meetings. Make mental health a part of your catch-ups with employees. These measures and more will help employees understand that it's important to reflect on mental health regularly to prevent burnout. 

Flexibility

As an employer, it’s important you understand the need for flexibility in the modern workplace, especially as so many workers experience hybrid or remote working models. This can relate to hours worked, a shifting of deadlines, a change in expectations, or a change to workflow. Most employees want to work hard and grow as a professional at work, so listen to their needs. If there’s something you can do to make their working life easier, see if you can implement changes to help them reach their full potential.

Take Care of Yourself

Taking care of yourself is essential for the success of your company.

If the individuals running the business are dealing with too much stress, it will never be successful in the long run, and no amount of business success will make you feel better. 

Trying to cope with stress and fatigue without addressing underlying causes will lead to disaster for you and your business.

Spend time around World Mental Health Day and throughout the year taking care of yourself and your staff; your company will benefit from it.

Forget your Financial Worries

A significant source of stress for business owners is the need to make a profit and keep track of finances.

Financial worries and poor mental health go hand in hand in a vicious circle as one often contributes to the other.

Often, half the task is knowing you have a handle on your books and understanding the exact state of your business's health.

QuickBooks accounting software can help you do just that. 

With an intuitive, easy-to-navigate interface, QuickBooks gives users a holistic view of their finances with sophisticated reporting and forecasting.

The automated easy-to-grasp reports related to incomings and outgoings can really help to present your state of affairs without you having to do all the legwork.

QuickBooks won’t miraculously make a profit for you, but the software can help take a significant amount of stress away from money management to help you tackle your finances with confidence. 

Try our 30-day free trial to see how our services can work for you.