The Context
The organisation chosen for this assessment is an Information Technology company that offers services to large corporations in terms of security, analytics, online marketing, software, as well as other services related to Information Technologies. The nature of the work in this organisation is not steady because the company works on orders that should be completed on a tight deadline, so the majority of employees are under tremendous stress due to the severe workload and the constant inflow of new clients. Apart from this, it is crucial for everyone in the company to stay at the top of their game because the competition on the IT market is severe; if a company begins to lose its ground, it will be quickly replaced by a competitor who will consequently steal all customers. Therefore, stress greatly impacts employees’ mental health, so it is the job of managers to develop a coherent action plan to make sure that workers do not experience any adverse effects.
Solutions
The first solution for improving employees’ mental health is the adoption of common-sense measures that can drastically improve workers’ satisfaction and prevent mental problems from arising. These measures include positive work culture, smarter work design, early prevention, as well as the promotion of resilience (Fels, 2016). To implement this solution, the management should review the current policies and processes in a company to identify problematic components that must be changed or eliminated for better employee performance as well as improved mental health. Such reviews may be conducted through interviews, staff surveys, questionnaires, and other methods that will allow identifying the current problems.
Once the issues are identified, it is important to develop a cohesive action plan. As mentioned by Michael in Beyond Blue Official (2014b) video, action plans such as ‘Return to Work’ plans help employees feel included and valued. Despite the fact that not all of the employees in a company will require ‘Return to Work’ plans, there should be extra effort put into creating helping plans that will allow employees to adapt better to stressful working conditions. After the identification of risks, the management should look into reducing the workload and employ new workers to sustain the company and withstand the inflow of new clients.
The most important step for improving mental health is training managers and employees in mental health aid. While the majority of companies train workers in first aid in case of emergency situations, the management often disregards the importance of first mental health aid (Haughton, 2016). Therefore, the company can hire a mental health expert who will educate workers about how to address mental illness and raise awareness of psychological issues employees may have in their professional life. Such education is especially important when some workers that suffered from mental disorders return to work and want to feel accepted by their colleagues. As seen in the example of Len from Beyond Blue Official (2014a) video, even Health and Safety Advisors can deal with depression and require mental health aid.
References
Beyond Blue Official. (2014a). Len’s story [Video file]. Web.
Beyond Blue Official. (2014b). Michael’s story [Video file]. Web.
Fels, A. (2016). Australians are spending more on mental health services and employers need to take notice.Web.
Haughton, J. (2016). Four ways to improve the mental health of your staff. Web.