The Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) is essential for any workplace seeking to promote overall well-being. Unlike typical wellness initiatives, EAP goes beyond assessing the psychological health of your employees; it identifies underlying issues that may hinder creativity, passion, and innovation in your establishment. Remember, the vitality of your organisation often depends on the wellbeing of its most vulnerable employees.
Experience reveals that unaddressed challenges in the workplace can undermine performance. For example, consider the case of a dedicated employee who excelled in all performance metrics—punctual, energetic, and reliable—but struggled with team dynamics. Unbeknownst to her employer, she faced personal issues that severely impacted her mental health. After a customer’s observation, the company realised their oversight, emphasising the need to look deeper than surface-level performance.
A few years ago, a survey involving 450 organisations highlighted a growing concern around mental health in the workplace. Nearly 80 percent of respondents noted an increase in the importance of mental health issues compared to five years prior. Alarmingly, it found that many CEOs remain disconnected from employee mental health needs, with only 13 percent of senior executives demonstrating a strong awareness of its impact on their organisations.
The costs associated with ignoring these issues, known as the cost of doing nothing, can be significant, underscoring the need for proactive measures. The survey also indicated that many organisations fall short in promoting workload balance and work-based social support. Preventative measures like establishing change advocacy and workplace wellness promotion are crucial for fostering a supportive work environment—especially in settings where 54 percent of frontline managers lack awareness of mental health issues and 57 percent of employees feel that psychological and physical health concerns are treated unequally.
The stigma surrounding mental health can deter employees from seeking help, further jeopardising their job security. A reminder: “A healthy workplace is one where everyone collaborates toward a shared vision for the health and wellbeing of all employees and the surrounding community.” Such an environment offers conditions like physical, psychological, social, and organisational ones that safeguard health and safety.
Open, regular conversations about employee concerns are imperative, allowing staff to voice their needs without fear of backlash or stigma. Workplace wellness experts are increasingly focused on monitoring employees’ behaviour outside work. This concept arose from concerns that organisations may inadvertently contribute to social issues. It highlights the potential long-term damage that can result from inaction.
For balance, we should not be oblivious to the duality in this case, where the living environment of employees can be responsible for some behaviours that, if unchecked, can impact coworkers negatively. As much as a toxic work environment can make an employee a social wreck, the employee’s living environment can do likewise. Hence, a need for an organisational culture that seeks to realign employees’ focus and goals through conformity and adherence to work rules and ethics for a safe work environment.
Lastly, a psychologically healthy workplace is far more than a list of programmes and initiatives. Instead, it is a description of an organisational culture, a culture that provides the foundation for the psychological health and wellbeing of employees. Therefore, employees’ perceptions of a lack of psychological support from their organisation can lead to increased absenteeism and presenteeism, conflicts, withdrawal behaviours, high staff turnover, low productivity, increased risk of accidents, incidents, injuries, increased costs of operation, and strain—which can cause fatigue, headaches, burnout, and anxiety.
Call to action:
Take a few minutes to reflect on what can make your office a happy place based on MARP:
Meaning: Do you feel that what you do at work has a purpose and makes a measurable difference that impacts the success of your organisation?
Autonomy: Do you feel you have control over what you are doing?
Relationships: Do you like your colleagues? Do you work in a supportive and friendly environment?
Progress: Do you believe you are making progress in goals that you care about?
I would love to have your responses! Please send your feedback via email to oopaleye@gmail.com. Olayinka Opaleye is a Wellbeing Specialist and Corporate Wellness Strategist. You can also reach her at +234 8100371304 or by visiting (link unavailable).
