Mental health in the workplace has evolved greatly in the last decade or so. In the last two years alone there’s been great headway when it comes to promoting and implementing programs for employees. According to the Harvard Business Review:

While this progress is a monumental change in the right direction, there’s still many companies out there that may need a push in the right direction. We spoke to iNSPIRETEK’s Founder and CEO Annie Flamsteed to give us a little insight on what workplaces can do to help bring about this change.

Founded in 2019, iNSPIRETEK helps youth athletes and national sporting bodies manage stress with innovative technology that tracks their wellness and helps drive positive human behavior. In 2022 they raised $2.5 million in Series A funding to expand their services and continue helping athletes around Australia.

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We are a super innovative, super sophisticated, super high growth tech company with massive ambitions. We have big data analytics and huge commercialization that's improving people's well-being. Youth sport is just the tip of the iceberg. What we're doing for young athletes we can do the same for any human being.

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The Initiative

The first step, if your company hasn’t already introduced a mental health program would be to ask your employees what kind of support they’re looking for. You could introduce a generic plan but if it is of no value to them, then they wouldn’t take advantage of it and defeats the purpose of this initiative.

There are many things employees may look for when it comes to this. Some examples can be more flexible work hours, remote working opportunities, access to mental health professionals, more days off, and access to physical activity programs.

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Taking into consideration mental health is paramount in running a business. The most basic things you need to have in a business, other than having an idea that's good and enough money to actually go and do it, the third most basic is having or at least acknowledging the importance of mental health within your workplace.

The Execution

Setting up your mental health initiatives is just the first step, implementing and practicing it, however, is a whole different ball game. Telling your employees to partake in it is easy but encouraging them may be difficult. People lead by example. If you’re someone who overworks themselves onto odd hours of the night with minimal breaks, there’s a good chance your employees may not want to take those half days off and long weekends. Why? Because you’re not taking them.

As a leader, it is your responsibility to practice what you preach. But more importantly, look after yourself the same way you would want your workforce to look after themselves. We’re all human, and we all hit that point of exhaustion one way or the other but it can easily be prevented. Let your people know when you’re taking an off day, or when you’re logging off early because you have screen fatigue.

I think where I went wrong last year and where so many startups go wrong is the founder and the CEO or the executive team does not follow the same recommendations. Then two things happen. They burn themselves out, and they're not very good at their job. Secondly, their teams will feel like if they're not taking a day off, then why should I take a day off? This creates a hustle startup culture, which is not sustainable and we’re all guilty of it.

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The Bottom Line

Investing in a mental health program for your employees and yourself is a benefit for you. When your workforce is healthy, happy, and well taken care of they will be more productive in the workplace and therefore increase your efficiency. You can never go wrong with investing in your people and promoting a healthy lifestyle. While it may take some time to practice what you preach small changes can lead to a great impact.

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It is important and okay to prioritize yourself. That’s something people often feel guilty about. Taking a day off to reset and recover will be more helpful for you than working through the stress and being so burnt out you can’t function for a week. Treat yourself with the same compassion that you would treat your team. That’s the bottom line.

The biggest thing would be to stop trying to buy your staff perks and stop trying to invest money just to tick a box. You have to see what actually helps them. Sometimes they need to be paid more, sometimes they need more days off, sometimes need a better laptop, sometimes they need the first day of every school year off to take their kids to school. You've got to be individualized. If you equip them with a better life, then they're going to be a better staff member for you.