Research powerhouse Deloitte conducted a survey of 1,000 full-time U.S. professionals. The results: 77% have experienced burnout at their current job, and 70% feel their employers aren’t doing enough to prevent and alleviate burnout in their organizations.  

Ways to Foster Workplace Well-Being 

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and it’s a good opportunity for us to think about mental health in the context of the office. Here are four ways to focus the lens on health and well-being in your workplace. 

Know Your Employees

Work to understand your employees. When employees feel like they belong somewhere, it contributes to their overall well-being. This doesn’t mean you have to show up unannounced to family barbecues or even hang out outside the office (though the occasional happy hour doesn’t hurt). It just means you should work to connect with them. Be authentic. Show you care and keep a pulse on where everyone is at. 

Not every leader is gifted with empathy. Use the resources on your team to fill this need and hand off the responsibility to someone who is gifted in empathy by asking them to check in on specific people. 

Every employee has a different set of needs, wants, likes, aspirations and goals, so you can’t manage with a one-size-fits-all approach. Gain insight into your employees with a Focus on You activity. 

Model Work-Life Balance and PTO Use

Work-life balance isn’t something that just happens. It must be diligently monitored, encouraged and modeled. Business News Daily reports on several research studies that found workers avoid taking time off because they fear getting fired. 

While workers not taking PTO might initially look nice on the bottom line, no rest means burnt-out employees and high turnover. Discourage an always-on culture. Reassure workers that taking advantage of the paid time off they’ve earned is a good thing and they won’t be penalized for doing so. Upper management must live this by disconnecting when they’re “off the clock,” taking PTO and resourcing teams appropriately. 

Invest in Your Employees

Investing in your employees comes in many different forms, one of which is annual or quarterly Career Investment Discussions. While routine status updates are helpful for assessing what’s going on and keeping up to date on projects, they often focus on surface-level topics. A career discussion digs deeper. A Career Investment Discussion — not to be confused with a performance review — includes questions that foster an informative dialogue between a leader and team member to gain an understanding of future development. 

Reframing feedback as an opportunity to grow means employees hear “I’m invested in you and your development” rather than “You did this wrong.” This can help an employee feel championed, and employees who see a clear path for career growth at their organization are more likely to stay. 

Make Engagement a Priority

The most talented individuals have a choice of where they work, so employers must focus on engaging these employees. What’s important to these talented employees: a balanced, healthy workplace, investment in their career development and an engaged culture. 

Creating a strong team culture is one of the most important steps to increase retention and productivity in your organization. Engaged employees are happy employees.

Create a Healthy Workplace

Take the opportunity this Mental Health Awareness Month to better understand how to create a healthy and thriving workplace. Take the time to know your employees, model work-life balance, invest in your employees and prioritize engagement.