Written by Chris Parke, CEO and co-founder of Talking Talent and Rob Bravo, Head of Wellbeing at Talking Talent
Now, more than ever, mental health and wellbeing is at risk for all. Fatigue, burnout and workaholism are increasing – but these are also preventable, foreseeable risks – morally, legally and economically.
Leaders have a duty of care to self, as well as a leadership, legal and commercial obligation to all those around them. Managers are often good thinkers but you can’t think your way to good mental health. You have to live it.
Organisations or leaders can’t completely fix someone’s wellbeing, but they can create the conditions in which employees feel empowered to look after themselves. This begins with leaders who model good ‘Self Care’. This then earns leaders the right to engage in ‘Other Care’, and a key ability in this regard is to dial up the skill of empathy.
In practical terms this looks like the following:
Create safe spaces
There has never been a more important time for leaders to work hard on creating safe environments in their organisations so that colleagues can share suggestions, raise concerns, speak openly about how they are feeling and collaborate effectively. Without this, you stifle agility, diversity of thought, creativity and the ability to think outside of the box when we need to respond to fundamental challenges to our ways of living and working. It makes an already stressful situation a pressure cooker with resulting impacts on lack of purpose, engagement and mental health.
Actively engage
Employers need to actively engage with their employees, not just provide them with the tools and leave them to fend for themselves. In organisations where there is an environment where employees are left to “sink or swim”, engagement, productivity and ultimately staff retention will be major issues. In contrast, organisations that have an intentional focus on purpose, inclusion and belonging will see profoundly different levels of engagement and productivity.
Embrace your vulnerabilities
The only way to drive true psychological safety is by modelling it as a leader, and fundamental to a leader’s accessibility and authenticity is showing their own vulnerabilities. None of us have all the answers, so why fake it? Leadership is not about having all the answers or being superhuman. A far more humanist approach that does not hide vulnerabilities as weakness, clearly demonstrates that others can also be honest about the challenges they face and how they feel. It encourages a collective, human response. This is key to the mental health and wellbeing of leaders, themselves a community that has been under intense pressure for over a year now and are feeling the strain.
If this is too radical a shift from the existing status quo then you may need outside support. Trust and safety are hard to win and easy to lose. If it doesn’t exist now, it may require a neutral third party to set the right conditions to hit the reset button and build that back in.
Inclusivity is key
The past couple of years have pushed everyone to their limits, and that’s why, now more than ever, companies must focus on bringing teams together in an inclusive environment. We need to demonstrate strong values, ethical practices and, above all, bring the human element back into the heart of the business.
Employers must make this conscious effort towards true diversity and inclusion and use innovative strategies – such as coaching – to keep workers close to the centre of the business. Those that do are more likely to maintain a motivated and engaged workforce.
Chris Parke is CEO and co-founder at Talking Talent, and Rob Bravo is coaching director and head of wellbeing at Talking Talent, which helps organisations accelerate advancement for under-represented talent.