Why Every Business Should Have a Mental Health Days Policy.
I get that this is a hot-button topic. Some people may read this and go, 'how nice in theory, wait until people abuse the policy.'
I get it, I do.
Let's be honest. There will always be people who will take a healthy & encouraged workplace practice and turn it into something they use chronically to escape their responsibilities, leaving people to (understandably) lose trust in them.
But those people are NOT the majority and should NOT be the reason that workplaces don't normalize taking mental health days. So many people need it, and it doesn't mean they shouldn't be encouraged to do it because of the cavalier irresponsibility of the few.
So, let's take a look at why we actually need mental health days, why it should be normalized in the #worldofwork , and a few tips on where to start this practice. Read this week's article to learn more.
TAKE A DAY FOR YOUR MENTAL HEALTH - PLEASE
The Fear To Do It
At the risk of sounding redundant, and I know I'm not the first person to say this: mental and physical health should be equally prioritized with time off from work.
I’m not talking about time off for the minor discomforts of life. I’m talking about when you really need it.
And still, even at the tail end of a pandemic and a time in history where it seems like we're in an alternate universe, many people still don’t speak up asking for a day off for their emotional health because they’re (understandably) worried that they’ll be branded as being 'lazy' (sigh, I know, I hate that this stereotype still exists too), jumping on the mental health bandwagon, looking for an excuse to get out of a project (yes this is a real thing), and too many more reasons to list.
These fears aside, the following is still true, whether we like it or not:
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“Mental health is the same as physical health in that we all have natural wear and tear. (1)
Unfortunately, it isn't always the case that companies have mental health resources. Resources of not, employees may be hesitant to initiate the conversation for fear of being stigmatized. They'd rather call in with a fake physical illness than say they have mental health challenges. I’ve lost count of the number of people who’ve told me they’ve done this, especially for the interviews I conducted for my book.
THREE BENEFITS OF TAKING MENTAL HEALTH DAYS
It's not new information that we are in a mental health, mental illness, and burnout crisis. We have been for quite a while, and the Covid-19 pandemic tipped us over the edge. Rates of mental illness are skyrocketing, and the often-touted statistic that 1 in 4 people will experience a mental health condition in their lifetime is looking like it's on the rise (2). I want to be wrong.
In case another source hasn't done it yet, I hope that sentence really lit a fire under your butt after reading it. Having the necessary time to dedicate to mental health maintenance is deeply urgent. For those of you who are more drawn to “wellbeing is important for productivity”, I have something for you too:
1. Workers feel empowered to address their mental health constructively as and when they need to.
2. Companies benefit from having more engaged and focused staff.
3. Industries benefit when they prioritize staff wellbeing so their workers don’t unnecessarily burn out. (3)
In my work, it's become clear that, whether companies, employees, and managers admit it or not, prioritizing mental health & wellbeing is now a part of the World of Work narrative - for good.
NORMALIZING MENTAL HEALTH DAYS
So how do we get taking mental health days into work culture? We normalize them, at all levels of an organization.
Easy? Nope.
Necessary? Yes.
A NEWER, AND NEEDED, PRACTICE
In my work over the years, I started noticing more conversations around general mental health around 2016. Then, when Covid-19 stressed out an already stressed workforce, it taught us (quickly) that our mental well-being is invaluable, and that it can’t (and shouldn’t) be ignored.
Whatever your feelings about it, you can't ignore it for all the people who work hard to achieve the mission that’s on your website.
At the risk of beating the same drum over and over again, let’s briefly talk about the Great Resignation and the Pandemic. If this global traumatic threat and time period taught us anything, it was that mental health mattered so much more than we realized and that taking time and space for that was crucial to our survival.
Covid-19 and the global pandemic forced many people to think about what they wanted out of work, and life. For many people, what they wanted was better pay, working conditions, and actually fair and industry-standard monetary compensation (not just yoga classes at the office).
And, the most important, acknowledgment that mental health mattered at their company.
And if their companies showed they really didn’t care about the latter (and boy, oh boy, was that made apparent pretty quickly at the start of the pandemic), it was. And a key reason for folks leaving, surprise surprise, because of a glaringly obvious toxic workplace culture.
And a stressful job without provision or encouragement for taking time off to deal with mental well-being is a recipe for burnout, breakdown, or… quitting. Let's break that down.
The U.S. Surgeon General has literally told us that toxic workplaces have a negative impact on mental health. Can we safely say now that part of a toxic workplace is making people feel embarrassed, ashamed, or worried to take mental health days?
I'll just leave this here...
LEADING BY EXAMPLE
I've said time and time again that no matter how old we are or where we come from that we look to our leaders for permission. And on top of that, we naturally look to other people to see what they do, and if something they do well benefits them. That's human nature.
Employers and leaders have a duty-of-care obligation to get on board with this. It has to start with you.
Is it possible that people will abuse this practice? Yes. Those types of people will always exist, but that’s not a reason to ignore implementing a desperately needed practice for the masses.
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“In a work environment that really gets it right, employees feel supported and connected to colleagues. Business owners have a moral duty to look after the well-being of staff, beyond just the bottom line. (4)
And bottom lines are where companies are hardest hit. So, there are some harsh consequences here if we’re being really honest.
For you data and dollar-focused folks where the bottom line comes first, I have something specifically for you.
Workers report functioning at 72% of their capacity because of mental health concerns. In addition, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) estimates that because of mental health issues (especially untreated ones), the economy loses $300 billion annually.
Look at that number again: $300 billion. That should make your jaw drop.
So if your moral compass isn't spinning for mental health, can I talk to your wallet? Here's what makes up a $300 billion problem:
lack of productivity
absenteeism
medical care costs
staff turnover
staff shortages
It’s a crisis we can't ignore.
WHAT “GETTING IT RIGHT” LOOKS LIKE
It isn't all doom and gloom -- some companies are addressing the mental health crisis. Many of them are my clients! Here are examples of companies doing it right.
Marketing company HubSpot has its Unplugged program, battling burnout. They've consciously chosen to include policies that work with employees' mental health.
Fridays are internal meeting-free days, giving employees a week off to recharge and instituting a range of mental health awareness programs to help employees focus on self-care.
Hootsuite is putting more money into mental well-being so that employees can find the best healthcare provider to assist them. Then there's the range of counseling services, funding of fertility treatment, and gender-affirming surgery where required.
Thoughtful, aware, and targeting real and practical issues. My love language (swoon).
TOP-DOWN, BOTTOM-UP
So what is the solution moving forward?
It isn't just about creating the policies and telling employees about them, although please do that too. It's about role modeling a change in your workplace culture (5). And that's much harder to do. Doesn’t mean it’s not worth it.
One leadership challenge is openness: participating in the conversation and talking about your own experiences of general mental health or mental illness - and why you want to take a mental health day to give yourself the space you need to address those emotional struggles - or even if you just need a damn break.
Leaders have historically been expected to “be above it all” as the calm ship in the choppy seas. What an illogical bunch of nonsense that expects people to absolve themselves of their humanity.
Let me be clear: being honest about struggling and what you need to do to address that does not mean you are lazy or treating people as a complaint receptacle. Let’s stop equating these when they're not the same thing.
Leading by example gives your team members the explicit permission they need to say that they need to take time. How are you going to do that?
By engaging in the practice that you’re encouraging others to do: taking days for your mental health when you need to. What would make you think they will if you won’t?
Companies that normalize mental health discussions and taking mental health days as needed have:
Appreciative employees
A workforce that supports one another
A company that succeeds together (6)
TIPS FOR IMPLEMENTING AN EFFECTIVE MENTAL HEALTH DAY WORKPLACE PRACTICE
Before we start, I want to remind you of an important phrase that has taken the world by storm in recent years: it’s OK not to be OK - and it's OK not to be OK at work too. (7)
If you’re in a position in your company to help create change, here are some starter tips to consider as you’re thinking about normalizing the practice (or creating a policy) for taking mental health days from work:
Start with trust, and set the expectation that this will be honored unless situations continually happen that call that trust into question. People should be encouraged to take mental health days, but if they’re taking a day for themselves every week, it defeats the purpose of having a policy in place when it’s actually needed. Keep people accountable. Employees should be treated like the adults that they litreally are, unless folks give you reason not to.
Not everyone is comfortable talking about it. You'll have folks that have varying levels of experience and ‘permissions’ around something like this. Some will really appreciate this new practice, while others will think it’s nonsense. You can’t please everyone, but that doesn’t mean the practice shouldn’t be encouraged.
Explain why you’re encouraging it: not the “trendy” reasons, but the real, tangible health & emotional-emotional-survival-in-this-world reasons.
Normalize the practice at all levels of the organization. I don't mean people doing it once a year. It should be often enough that it's seen as 'typical', but not chronic.
Don’t criticize people who actually take mental health days! That’s not laziness; it’s doing what you suggested they do – and isn’t that good? People will take mental health days for a whole host of reasons, many of which are completely reasonable and healthy. If someone takes a mental health day for a reason you may not relate to, it doesn't mean it's not valid.
Include resources, and encourage individual accountability to use them. While you can provide people with information, resources, and space to take care of themselves, they must also take the necessary steps to actually do this. Taking a mental health day can look different for everyone. It could be getting out in nature, getting more sleep, detaching from tech, or having a day of quiet and a therapy appointment in the afternoon. But if you're going to encourage people to take mental health days, give them suggestions and resources they can use to maximize that time.
GOING FORWARD
Taking mental health days at work should be viewed as a healthy, encouraged, and necessary practice just like any other practice we do to keep ourselves on track (as much as we can) as we make our way through the world and the World of Work.
Encouraging people to take mental health days is still a very new practice, and one that will continue to take years and years to normalize. We're still in the infancy of this, and it's going to be a slow burn. The more organizations that demonstrate the importance of this, and actually encourage (and get people) to do it, the more role modeling that will be present - encouraging others (and giving explicit social encouragement) to follow suit.
If you're in a position to influence this at your organization, I hope you'll work on making the case and getting the buy-in in your organization where you need to get it to get this off the ground. It'll take a chorus of voices to make this too loud to ignore - thank you to each of you for your voice in this.
Are you ready to open the conversation about mental health at your company? Reach out to Melissa to set up a fireside interview.
Sources:
1,2,3,4,5,6,7: Doman, Melissa. Yes, You Can Talk about Mental Health at Work: Here's Why ... and How to Do It Really Well. Welbeck Publishing Group, 2021.
