5 TIPS TO STRENGTHEN THE MENTAL FITNESS OF YOUR EMPLOYEES
Employee health is more important than ever. The results of the AOK 2021 absenteeism report show that companies that are certified as having robust resilience by their employees also have healthier employees. Click here for the report:/https://www.wido.de/publikationen-produkte/buchreihen/fehlzeiten-report/2021/
What makes a healthy company? Here I share 5 personal tips from my experiences with companies (national and international) over the last 18 months:
Keep health in mind throughout the year
Make sure that all employees are familiar of the measures available. New colleagues should also be included. Many colleagues are so absorbed in their work that they forget that there are appropriate interventions available in the workplace. Keep bringing these formats to their attention!
What time in your company is there space to take a breath and focus on health issues? When is the stressful time? How can everyone take care of themselves with short measures even in this special phase? What reminders of healthy actions can be easily incorporated so that employees can access them when needed? My clients have had good experiences with so-called „health agents“: these employees, trained by me, have the task of consistently bringing topics such as „healthy use of one’s own resources“ into the teams. These can be very down-to-earth exercises, such as starting every team meeting with a relaxing exercise.
Setting a good example
Leaders must know the existing tools and have tested them themselves. On the one hand, the managers should experience support themselves and on the other hand, they should set an example for their teams and take the teams with them. If we have learned one thing in these 18 months, it is that we should treat ourselves well. Find out what strengthens us and be patient with our vulnerabilities. Only when we take care of ourselves and are patient with ourselves can we develop understanding for others. Healthy culture in a company can only flourish if it is lived by everyone.
Encouraging small steps
Employees are in different stages of life. Now in the time of transition back to office/hybrid working even more so. Newly acquired routines such as sports before work or having lunch together with the family have to be reorganised. Meet your team members head on. Offer your teams different health programmes and find out together what is needed.
Address mental fitness
„Bedienungsanleitung für ein menschliches Gehirn“ (Operating Instructions for a Human Brain) is the title of a book by Gerald Hüther. On the first page, the author asks why we get an instruction manual for every appliance like a washing machine, car or smartphone, but none for our complex brain. We seem to expect that our mental performance will already guide us properly through life. But here too, just as with a computer, operating errors can occur. Our brain also needs „maintenance“. Mindfulness exercises, for example, can serve this purpose.
Besides our own mental wellbeing , it is often the greatest challenge for us humans to ask for help. Signal that support is available. Connectedness within the team also strengthens mental resources. Another important lesson from the last 18 months is that emotional connectivity makes us stronger.
Self-scaling through appropriate measurement tools
Regularly put the existing health promotion measures and offers to the test: What is going well? What can be improved? What do we want to do differently? At the beginning of the implementation of programmes, determine at which intervals and with which instruments or steering groups the effectiveness will be reviewed. Using appropriate methods, colleagues can measure and record progress themselves.
If I can support you and your teams with tailor-made formats, I look forward to hearing from you at at@anja-termoellen.de.
