Supporting Employee Mental Health

With the average working week in the UK 31 hours, and those in London averaging 33 hours a week (including part-time workers) the need for inspiration at work is vital to keep your team motivated.

As a small business employer, this means not just creating a workplace that accommodates your employees’ needs, but building a community in which they can thrive.

The benefits of building a community within your workspace are innumerable, from increasing the ease of communication between employees to promoting a sense of camaraderie and improving levels of productivity.

Community can also help create a clarity of purpose for employees, which is essential if you’re looking to reduce your employment turnover rate.

If you want to work on building a workplace community, have a look at the tips below for the best ideas on how to bring employees together.

Work get togethers

The most obvious way to create a sense of community within your workplace is to organise events outside of work.

Regular get togethers will help create bonds within the team and will help boost employee morale. The quirkier and more alternative your nights out are, the more likely you and your staff will be able to have a good laugh about it afterwards and bond over the experience.

Get involved in the community

To really cement the community feeling, why not get your employees involved in the local area?

For local businesses there are benefits aside from just bringing your workplace together, as you’ll be marketing your business and its values at the same time.

A great way to get involved in initiatives is to get in touch with local schools or community centres, as they’ll be likely to have the most relevant information on what’s coming up around the community.

Fundraisers for local charities are a great way to get involved, and can even be something your employees do in the office, such as a cake sale.

A clear company culture

At the hiring stage you should have an understanding of what the company culture is and what values you find important. Look out for these in candidates and consider carefully your hires before you press the button.

Dedicated members of the team will naturally have things in common, above all a motivation to help grow your company. Hiring with thought to this will mean you are able to build the kind of community that your workplace values.

A shared goal

Without a shared goal, employees may begin to feel isolated and unable to communicate any issues or problems they’re having at work. This can have a detrimental effect on employees’ mental health. According to data published by mental health charity, Mind, 30% of staff disagree with the statement ‘I would feel able to talk openly with my line manager if I was feeling stressed’.

In order to create an open line of communication between colleagues and different levels of staff, a shared goal can bridge a gap to help bond the entire office together into a community. This goal may be an overall target for the office, with the promise of reward. You could get the entire office working together on a project, such as the next staff night out.

Feedback

Encouraging your employees to give feedback as a group can create an encouraging environment that will have benefits for both your employees and for yourself.

They’ll feel more confident speaking about their concerns or suggestions for the company if they’re in an environment they’re comfortable in.

Are you using your small business to build a community of like-minded people? Or do you think work colleagues should exist solely in the 9-5? Leave your comments in the section below!