How Can HR Facilitate Your Remote Workplace Mental Health Initiatives?

The shift to remote work has been tough for many people, especially considering the challenging situation in the world. As a result, it has put the mental health of employees at risk. As per a recent survey by FlexJobs and Mental Health America, around 85% of remote workers have experienced work-related burnout. 

When in chronic stress, it’s hard for the employees to move forward, achieve set goals, and keep their performance on a required level. So, supporting mental health and adopting initiatives that can positively affect the well-being of employees is a must.

But what if the company leaders already have enough tasks they should address and don’t have free time slots to add another activity?

That’s when an HR manager comes into play. Apart from dealing with payroll, compliance, and other concerns, HR plays a vital role in managing employee performance and helping them work through problems. 

In this article, we’ll explain the role of HR in helping employees address mental health challenges and see how HR outsourcing enables companies to ensure well-being and stability in the workplace without setting up an additional department. 

How does a remote HR address employees’ mental health concerns?  

HR’s primary responsibility is to make sure that employees feel comfortable at work. There are many tasks and duties that help these professionals accomplish the mentioned goal. The components of a healthy work atmosphere that rely on HR professionals are the following:

• managing benefit packages to ensure the physical health of employees;
• overseeing payroll to understand if each team member is adequately paid;
• managing recruitment and termination to facilitate smooth work productivity;
• offer professionals the opportunities for skill development;
• listening and responding to workers’ problems.

This set of tasks enables HR specialists to be in contact with each team member and be able to detect the changes in their behavior. In addition, HR managers understand the increasing awareness about the mental health topic, so they try to bolster their knowledge about the reasons and consequences of various mental health conditions. 

As you can see, having an HR in your team is a must, especially in current conditions, when there are too many factors that can trigger mental health problems. However, not every company can afford to set up a separate HR department, especially when all its employees work from home.

The most effective solution, in this case, is to consider cooperating with outsourced HR managers. In this way, you’ll free up your time by transferring a large stack of responsibilities to vetted professionals, and they’ll make sure to create a work environment that facilitates mental health initiatives.

What tactics help your outsourced HR manage mental health in the workplace? 

A skilled HR Professional will help your company become more transparent, resilient, and flexible to meet all employees' needs. Although optimizing operations and performance are the primary targets, they can't be achieved if there's a lack of focus on team members' feelings and behavioral health. 

One of the primary elements every organization should consider when setting goals for the new working year is to acknowledge and normalize employees' feelings. It should help them channel their energy on their primary tasks and complete their goals without harming their mental well-being.   

Some of the most useful methods that help outsourced HR professionals eliminate or address mental health concerns within the team members are the following: 

Eliminating stigma and increasing awareness

Although the mental health topic is one of the most commonly discussed ones, employees still struggle with recognizing their problems and discussing them with others. The stigma also exists due to miscommunication and misunderstandings, making it more difficult for people to ask for help. 

The employees rarely share their worries at work because they are afraid of adverse reactions, ranging from fear and denial to even being fired. 

So, the role of HR in this regard is to educate the team on the basics of mental health challenges and dispel the myths that people who are struggling with mental health issues are dangerous. A professional will ensure there’s a proper conversation about the topic, describing the parallels between physical and cognitive issues.

Besides, as mentioned by the Aetna survey, approximately 65% of the employees emphasize the need for an adequate and comprehensive approach to workplace well-being policies. 

Setting the right tone

The company leaders are the people who set the example for their employees, and if they avoid discussing certain topics, their workers will do the same. So, outsourced HR managers will teach the leaders how to hold effective conversations with employees about critical issues. This will also help the CEOs and other managers recognize the need to ensure access to treatment, provide benefits, and monitor employee mental health needs and well-being.  

Leveraging the available resources

You don’t have to spend a fortune on mental health wellness programs if you know how to leverage the already existing resources. With the rise of telehealth, many virtual options offer convenient access to behavioral healthcare. 

Your remote HR manager will make sure the employees can benefit from flexible schedules or paid time off without harming the company’s financial situation or productivity levels.

To make sure your organization provides appropriate resources to the employees, the HR specialists will listen, analyze, and provide feedback to the workers.   

Providing training

Although HR managers provide great support to the employees while at the workplace, they’re not with the employees on a daily basis.

For this reason, it’s essential to ensure complete mental health training to reduce stigma and help the team members understand how to act in certain situations. These can be internal sessions hosted by HR managers, hiring an external consultant, or leveraging online courses as mentioned in the previous paragraph.  

Listening and communicating

Reaching out to the employees on a personal level has a more significant impact as opposed to standard work relationships. The HR managers encourage leaders to check in on employees by simply sending them a message or a personal note, asking about how they’re doing. 

Continuous feedback matters a lot and helps employees to feel less lonely and isolated because these conditions are common among remote team members. Your outsourced HR specialists will pay attention to balancing the organization’s needs while following the necessary CDC and state guidelines, recognizing their impact on behavioral health. 

Encouraging a healthy work-life balance

Going above and beyond to achieve success is praisable, but it harms productivity in the long run, leading to employee burnout and staff turnover. 

The HR managers will help the employees unplug after work by emphasizing the need to take breaks and stressing that they don’t have to be available after their working day is over. This will reduce the tension under which the employees are during the day and decrease stress levels. 

Prioritizing mental health

An open and friendly HR environment where employees can freely discuss their concerns is a prerequisite for success in mental health initiatives. So, your remote HR managers will review your company’s health insurance coverage to see whether it covers mental health. If it does, they’ll promote using these services among employees. 

Wrapping Up

Talking about mental health is a must, especially in times of remote work. When employees have the ability to discuss their problems with someone in a safe work environment, it helps build trust on a personal level and achieve better results. So, if you consider hiring an HR specialist or outsourcing HR services, you’ll make a massive impact on the further success of your organization.