Five key elements to reduce stress and boost wellbeing at work
Workplace stress costs Australia more than $15 billion every year. But how can employers improve mental health at work? Christina Foxwell, CEO of Ignite Purpose, outlines five key elements that organisations should tackle to reduce workplace stress and anxiety.
Leadership strategy
Every CEO needs to show leadership by working with their executive team to develop a strategy that addresses psychological safety in the workplace. This requires investing in cultural transformation to make a real impact.
Leadership application
From the CEO to supervisors leading the change by embracing psychological safety practices and policies as well as including performance based measures in everyone’s role and responsibilities so that there are no gaps in responsibilities and expectations.
Measurement tools
Measurement needs to be aligned to organisational strategies focused on engagement, honesty, self-leadership and the perception of a safe workplace. This can also be assessed through performance feedback at regular intervals.
Assessment and review
Anonymous feedback to survey, regular team feedback and independent interviews of randomly selected team members to create a pulse check.
Creating a community of belonging
Teaching people the practices of connecting with each other and working towards common goals where positive conflict can be learned through the lens of greater empathy and harnessing individual strengths and talents.
Getting started
Mental wellness at work is not just imperative and an inclusive opportunity, it is also now a legal obligation. Building results can only happen through building authentic and meaningful working relationships supported by policies and cultural transformation to make real measurable change. You can’t just tick a box on mental wellness.
Employers that succeed in building a safe and healthy workplace reap the benefits. Key benefits include increasing productivity, higher engagement, lower absenteeism, and reduced staff turnover.
