Advantages Of Having Psychological Support In The Work Environment
We are going to do a memory exercise. In which company, organization, or even study center have you felt cared for, listened to, and noticed that they cared about your health, whether physical or mental?
Let’s continue with the exercise, do you think that apart from doing a job, providing a service to a company or studying at a center, they should go one step further and worry about your mental or physical well-being? Could we even consider it a basic right for any worker?
It seems more widespread and generalized within the world of work to accept sick leave due to physical injuries or illnesses than to normally accept that there are employees who may request them due to a problem related to their emotional well-being. It is as if these problems did not occur or were outside the workplace
And it is much less accepted that this mental problem can arise from the conditions of the work itself or from the relationships established there between colleagues, bosses, leadership styles or the company culture. It would mean opening a debate in the company that, on many occasions, is too uncomfortable and that leaders and general management prefer to avoid.
Consequences of emotional discomfort in the work environment
There is a wide variety of articles that have studied how they influence psychosocial factors at work on the emotional well-being of workers Among these factors, we can highlight the degree of controllability/uncontrollability that the person perceives about the work they do and whether the work demands exceed their personal resources and capabilities.
If these types of stressors continue over time, they can negatively affect emotional well-being, leading to high levels of stress, anxiety disorders, burnout or depressive states Furthermore, the worker may negatively perceive his work, its characteristics, the work space itself, relationships with colleagues and have unpleasant emotions about it, leading to avoidance and even phobia towards it.
According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), anxiety and depression disorders are the most common among workers around the world, with figures above 300 million affected in the case of depressive disorders and more. of 260 million who are affected by problems related to anxiety.
Advantages of investing in emotional well-being in the company
If quantified in economic terms, it is noted that the loss of performance and productivity linked to emotional well-being would reach the amount of one trillion dollars per year. As can be deduced, betting on the promotion and promotion of measures to improve workplace well-being will have the direct benefit of greater productivity, lower absenteeism and a reduction in economic losses.
Law 31/1995 of November 8 on the prevention of Occupational Risks established the bases to regulate the safety and health of workers by applying measures and developing Mandatory activities for the prevention of risks related to work Without a doubt, this law represented a great advance in the work environment and allowed the issuance of sanctions in case of non-compliance with it. However, this law has not yet covered the entire broad spectrum of problems associated with occupational health and, more specifically, emotional well-being.
In Spain, some companies, based on compliance with the Occupational Risk Prevention Law, have expanded the coverage and planned actions to not only prevent, but also intervene and foster a healthy organizational culture , covering areas as diverse as nutrition, physical health, conciliation, equality and, of course, emotional well-being. This is how the concept of a “Healthy Company” arises.
In the IIIrd Edition of the ‘IBEX 35 Observatory. Health, Well-being and Sustainability in IBEX 35 companies’, it is explained how 70% of IBEX 35 companies have already launched specific initiatives on emotional well-being for their employees
This percentage is even higher, reaching 88%, regarding active listening provisions to improve well-being and business culture. According to the report, 88% of companies carry out active listening measures for workers, a fundamental element in the process of integrating a culture of well-being in the company. Another interesting fact is that 39% of IBEX 35 companies link health and well-being objectives to the remuneration of managers and, around 42%, recognize these healthy terms within their occupational risk map.
The European Network for Health Promotion at Work (ENWHP) has concluded that every euro invested in health promotion programs at work results in a return of between €2.5 and €4.8 in relation to work absenteeism and between €2.3 and €5.9 in illness costs.
According to the World Economic Forum (WEF) publication, The Wellness Imperative, Creating More Effective Organizations, when workplace well-being is actively promoted at work :
Benefits for workers of having psychological support
We see below, more specifically, the multiple benefits that applying psychological support programs in the work environment have for workers :
On the opposite side, Failure to focus on improving the emotional well-being of the employee will maintain and accentuate problems associated with a worse mood and bad mood, physical aches and pains, greater irritability, relational problems including relationship problems and loss of sexual desire; inability to concentrate, substance addiction, poor eating habits, weight loss or gain, problems performing quality work, etc.
You may be interested: “Psychological well-being: 15 habits to achieve it”
Business benefits of applying psychological support programs
Let’s now look at the business benefits of applying psychological support programs in the work environment.
1. Take care of the most important thing in your company, your workers
Sometimes we forget that An organization is made up of individual people who form a collective If we take care of each member we will have a healthy, motivated organization with better performance.
2. Development of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
Companies are no longer mere producers of economic benefits. A modern, cutting-edge company must provide an impact and benefit to its members and society in general Support for emotional well-being is one of the requested measures.
3. Reduction of absenteeism and improvement of work-life balance
When we have mentally healthy employees, sick leave decreases, they are more motivated to work. In addition, it makes employees face their workloads with greater guarantees and balance your personal and professional life
4. Performance improvement
There are various studies that indicate that an employee with greater well-being has better productivity. It seems logical, but not taking care of your employee or improving their mental balance at work is a notable detriment to the company.
5. Increased motivation and retention
In line with the previous point, more motivated workers will identify to a greater extent with the company and will not look for other jobs in the labor market. If you take care of your employee, he will have fewer reasons to change
What does an emotional well-being program include in the workplace?
Take care of the spaces, offices, furniture, etc. and that they are attractive and healthy places to carry out any type of work. Even take care of aspects such as lighting or access to natural areas and, failing that, install areas with green areas and plants that can improve the mood.
7. Preventive work and addiction intervention
Whether in terms of harmful substances such as tobacco or other types of drugs or digital addictions, such as the compulsive use of technology.
8. Nutritional area
Healthy eating guidelines and training, and even provide food and drinks on that line
9. Environment and psychosocial factors
Define workloads, functions and jobs well so that stressors do not overwhelm employees’ competencies.
10. Work-life balance
Be flexible and provide facilities to generate a good balance between personal, family, social life and our work with bosses being the first to set an example.
11. Communication area
Regularly send healthy organizational culture messages and give employees a voice and vote to express themselves freely.
12. Active listening about emotional well-being
Carry it out through the human resources department, the health department or by offering the services of psychologists who advise or develop psychological therapy tailored to the needs of the employees. Internal psychologists, who, like company doctors, take care of the psychological well-being of workers, and external psychologists who guarantee the confidentiality of therapeutic processes.
13. Measurement and analysis of results and new proposals
Measure actions and share results and new proposals with employees in order to have reliable data when making decisions about the emotional well-being program.
In conclusion…
There cannot be full health without emotional well-being. It is very likely that in our professional career, as we assume new functions and responsibilities, we will go through adverse situations, such as stress due to workload, poor relationships with colleagues or superiors, or pressure due to not being able to face a certain task, which could lead to in anxiety and depression disorders of various kinds.
The benefits associated with emotional well-being programs are numerous and the improvement in global health, the reduction of sick leave, the increase in productivity and economic performance, the retention of talent by feeling cared for or the improvement of corporate social responsibility and the external image of the company could be highlighted.
Companies are obliged to play an active and fundamental role in preventing psychosocial risks at work and must develop actions to promote emotional well-being, not as something exceptional, but as something inherent to the organization. Without health, people cannot successfully face the current challenges of work, so having psychological support in the work environment with an external psychologist today becomes one of the main measures that organizations can adopt to ensure their results. .
