Attention to mental healing and wellness in the American workplace may be growing, but many offices haven’t implemented major changes to protect their employees. With nearly one in five adults living with mental illness, almost every sizeable workplace in the country is bound to experience personnel issues in this epidemic. Protecting your company is a matter of promoting employee healing and wellness — managers and directors should consider making some of the following workplace changes.

Create a Pathway to Treatment

A report from the Association for Psychological Science found that over 40% of those with mental health issues don’t receive treatment. It identifies social stigma associated with mental health issues as one of the most significant barriers. The first step to promoting employee healing and wellness is to make it acceptable to seek treatment. Hold seminars and make employees know you’re on their side.

Meanwhile, conduct individual check-ups with employees. These should be friendly conversations about general well-being — entrust them to an HR professional to open a door to treatment.

Consider Stress

Workplace stress is an epidemic affecting over 70% of American workers. According to the American Psychological Association, it can quickly erode employee health and well-being. While listening to employee complaints and check-ins, consider one of the most common sources of workplace stress: workload.

Consider if the workloads you assign are realistic. It’s a good topic to work into regular employee check-ins. If workload is a source of employee stress, you might need to redistribute responsibilities, allocate more vacation time, or hire more employees.

View healing and wellness as an investment: paying for it now offsets future risks such as a senior-level employee burning out during a time of need.

Metro Collaborative™ is a leading group of physicians spanning major cities throughout the country. Attending their dinners and retreats can help managers and directors create more stress-sensitive, sustainable workplaces. Find Metro Collaborative’s™ next event today by calling them at (212) 777-8949 or visiting their website.