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Why Mental Health is a Strategic Business Imperative: World Suicide Prevention Day 2021

It’s time for a mental health check-in.

How are you doing? How are you feeling?  Are you okay? Do you need any help? 

Today, 10th September marks World Suicide Prevention Day and it’s important as a global community to take some time to check in on our loved ones, neighbors, work colleagues, employees, business partners, leaders, customers and also reflect on our own wellbeing. 

Globally, suicide is among the top leading causes of death for people of all ages. According to the WHO, it accounts for more than 800,000 deaths per year – which is one suicide every 40 seconds. The impacts are far-reaching.

The Mental Health Toll Of COVID-19

As the covid pandemic wears on, with alarming levels of spread and severity, new variants, millions of deaths, economic strife, and unprecedented curbs on social interaction, stress is definitely taking a toll on people’s mental health. Around the world, nearly 1 billion people are living with mental disorders today. Suicide itself is not a mental disorder, but one of the most important causes of suicide is mental illness. Most often depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and substance use disorders.

Mental Health Is Now A Business Metric

The average person will spend a third of their life working. Given that we spend a significant proportion of our lives in the workplace, at Reactionpower, we understand that we have a vital responsibility when it comes to the mental well-being of our team. Stress, anxiety, depression, and other complicated mental health factors affect most individuals in the working world especially in cases of excessive workloads, performance pressure, job insecurity, poor working conditions, or bullying and harassment.  

Investing in a mentally healthy workforce that shows up to work in a good frame of mind, ready to work, is not only beneficial to our work family but has a great ripple effect on our customer experience as well. With increased productivity, efficiency, focus, and creativity, our global professional team is able to come up with cutting-edge digital marketing solutions that support brands to reach their online marketing goals.

Learn more about how to structure and support your team for growth.

 

Indeed, mental health can have a critical impact on a company’s bottom line. WHO estimates that depression and anxiety cost the global economy $1 trillion per year in lost productivity.  Nonetheless, they also found that every dollar put into mental health treatment produces a four-dollar improvement in health and productivity for employees and businesses. 

Reactionpower’s Approach To Mental Health

As a responsible digital marketing agency, we are constantly assessing our workplace culture.  We do this to determine whether it supports or discourages optimal employee well-being. Here are some of the simple ways in which we try to create a mentally healthier workplace, with new initiatives being in constant progress:

  • Making sure to regularly assess employee workload.
  • Building as much flexibility as possible into all employees’ schedules. 
  • Encouraging employees to use their vacation time. 
  • Motivating employees to take regular breaks throughout the day.
  • Encouraging employees to maintain a healthy diet and exercise regularly.
  • Enhancing workplace socialization so that strong friendships are formed at work.
  • Discussing mental health at work.

Business leaders can help create a working environment that is part of the solution and not part of the problem when it comes to mental health. Share on X How do you promote mental health in your workplace? What particular strategies have given the best results? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Gladys is a marketing pro with years of experience in content marketing management. She enjoys strategic thinking to make sure all proposed marketing efforts are in line with company objectives and meet the desired success metrics. Her forte includes copywriting, art direction, and social media management. Specializing in brand activations and event promotion events, she approaches each campaign with an entrepreneurial mindset and a passion for growth. Outside of work, she enjoys spending quality time with her family and trying out new recipes.

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