Building a supportive community for employee mental wellbeing
The workplace atmosphere deeply impacts an employee’s mind and productivity. While a negative workplace environment can deeply impact an employee’s morale and workplace productivity, building a supportive community can positively impact an employee’s morale, productivity, and overall mental wellbeing.
In this blog, we’ll explore how to build a supportive workplace community and how it can positively influence an employee's mental wellbeing.
But before that, let’s quickly understand the benefits of having a supportive community.
Benefits of a supportive community
Workplaces that have built a strong, supportive community secure their employees in their individual roles. It helps to build trust, respect, empathy, and collaboration among the employees. Here are a few more benefits of having a supportive community at work.
Offer a support network
A supportive community means employees have a sense of care for one another. Employees can seek greater support from their colleagues and peers. Apart from creating a sense of belonging, a support network significantly reduces employee stress.
Better growth opportunities
A community approach at the workplace offers better opportunities for employees, which can significantly help them in their overall growth. Employees can realize more value from their roles and feel encouraged to pursue their professional goals.
Improved collaborations
A supportive community encourages better collaboration. In a community set-up, employees don’t work in silos. Rather, they believe in collaborative work where there is an increased level of trust among employees. Employees are more empathetic to one another and take others’ viewpoints, which significantly improves their overall output.
Engaged at work
With improved support, better collaboration, and growth opportunities, employees feel more engaged and happy at work. This brings in more workplace satisfaction, which means employees feel more loyal to their workplaces. This is definitely good news for employers, as all these factors can improve employee retention. As a report mentions, employees with a supportive workplace community have a lower probability (58%) of looking for another job.
How to build a supportive workplace community?
There are various strategies you can try to build a supportive workplace community. Here’s one:
Define organization values
Gather your employees and define the organizational values for them. Then, ask them which values they can personally relate to. Encourage them to invest time and take up responsibilities to uphold those values.
Foster transparent two-way communications
A supportive organization must be open to listening to its employees and value their perspectives. So, start building an open and two-way communication system. Encourage employees to connect with one another. Arrange sessions for the leadership team to meet with their teams and listen to their perspectives. Gauge your communication strategy from time to time to evaluate its effectiveness.
Offer customized training opportunities
All organizations offer training and development opportunities to their employees, but few take into account the specific needs of the employees. Remember, not all employees have the same career aspirations. To build a supportive community that truly cares about the employees, ask your employees what kind of training program they need. Customize the training opportunities that align with their career options.
Organize team bonding events
Consider conducting regular events, lunch sessions, and meetups where employees can regularly meet one another and interact. If you’re a global team, encourage all your team members to travel for these meetings so that they can still meet team members who they usually don't get to meet.
Prioritize diversity and inclusion
A supportive community should value individuals of all races, cultures, religions, and genders. Prioritizing diversity and inclusion ensures that you make all your employees feel comfortable at work, value their perspective, and give everyone an equal opportunity.
Conduct regular check-ins
Regularly check on your employees and offer help if needed. A supportive community must prioritize their employees and their wellbeing.
Promote healthy work-life balance
Finally, to build a supportive community, encourage employees at all levels to practice a healthy work-life balance. For example, you can designate one day in a week as a no-meeting day. Or make it a practice for employees to take a break during lunch hours when they get to move away from their workstations. Allowing flexibility, if possible, is also a great way to encourage a healthy work-life balance.
FAQ
What are the long-term benefits of investing in a supportive workplace community?
Investing in a supportive workplace community yields several long-term benefits, like higher employee retention rates, as employees feel more engaged, satisfied, and loyal to their organization. A supportive community fosters a positive work culture where collaboration thrives, leading to increased productivity and innovation.
How can a supportive workplace community improve employee mental wellbeing?
A supportive workplace community fosters a sense of belonging and offers a support network where employees can seek assistance from their colleagues. This reduces stress levels and promotes mental wellbeing. Additionally, better growth opportunities and improved collaborations within the community contribute to a more positive work environment, leading to increased job satisfaction and lower chances of burnout.
