A promising professional feels compelled to take a break at the peak of her career. Two years later, she wins a gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Simone Biles’ journey proves that healthy choices matter, for personal and professional wins.

Prioritizing and protecting mental health isn’t easy, even for a leading, resilient athlete. In an uncertain job environment, it can be tough for corporate professionals to claim the health choices they need and deserve, too.

How can employers support their team members’ wellbeing while still achieving business goals? As an employer, you must go the extra mile and nurture an environment that encourages employees to choose better, confidently.

“How can I inspire employees to prioritize their wellbeing without compromising productivity?”

We already know that health and productivity are directly correlated. Yet, as a leader, it can be tough to remind your employees of the fundamental truth –

“Work can wait. Your health cannot.” You don’t want them to deprioritize work, after all.

A top reason employees shy away from identifying and expressing their health challenges is due to conditioning – vulnerability is equated with weakness.

Communicate why your company sees showing up for one’s health as a sign of strength. That’s the mindset bit.

At a habit adoption level, often work is not even in the way. It is simply a lack of access to positive resources. Be it making space for a yoga room in the office or setting up a pantry with fresh fruits, little gestures can go a long way.

When you consistently inspire employees, it enhances their sense of purpose, an employee engagement driver.

“Does building a health-first environment demand me to make investments?”

Intent tops investments when it comes to employee health. If you are a business owner or leader with limited financial resources, know that you can make a definite impact and arrive at a health-first work environment.

How? Start with the fundamentals – a pro-health work language, circadian-conscious workspace design, and rewards and incentives for work-life balance. For instance, announce a ‘Ultimate Office Lunch Sandwich’ competition or a 3-week ‘Quit Smoking’ challenge for your team.

Caring for your employees’ health demands you to invest in an authentic approach. This is far more effective than mere spending on infrastructure facilities.

Your employees don’t need the most expensive fitness coach out there. They need gentle but consistent reminders to prioritize their well-being, right alongside their paid work. In that sense, it demands you to invest in a culture of high, active support.

“Where should my company draw the line when supporting employees’ mental health?”

As a business leader, addressing mental health is rarely simple. It challenges both, individual performance and our shared work environments.

A big shift is long overdue – look for tiny but potent preventive healthcare measures; knee-jerk responses cannot elevate your team’s overall mental health, energy, and resilience.

Actively seek and address trends in the team that contribute to persistent stress and anxiety, top disruptors of hormonal and emotional regulation.

It is most likely that your employees are affected by a lack of clarity, toxic positivity, and a culture of mindless hustle rather than longer working hours.

Mental health inclusion also demands you redesign work styles for neurodivergent perspectives. How? You don’t need to spend on expensive consultants. Ask your hires how you can make them feel at home.

At the other end of the spectrum, know that even the most inclusive environment cannot be a substitute for professional help and therapy. If a team member is experiencing chronic mental health discomfort or an illness, they need time off.

Extend the same policy that you have for physical illnesses, right from medical insurance to returning post recovery.

“Does everyone in my company need to be a champion for mental health?”

Not all of us are exposed equally to the reality of mental health. As a leader, this can make it difficult for you to get everyone on board. This is where successful leaders do things differently.

They go the extra mile to communicate and educate everyone on the opportunity – peer support and a positive mental health environment are critical for success; irrespective of how we are wired, our resilience levels, and susceptibility to chronic mental health illness.

In simpler words, you don’t have to go from being a business leader to a mental health advocate. Instead, establish a positive mental health environment as the cornerstone of a thriving career.

This way, even the busiest team members can see the value in adopting the right attitude and habits.

Managing employee health, sustainably

Even as you and fellow business leaders take concrete steps and contribute to employee wellbeing, the gap exists. Across leading companies, leaders and employees perceive their company’s commitment to health differently. This calls for you to acknowledge two truths:

1. Employees need to meet you in the middle.
While you can offer all the environment and tools for better health, employees need to leverage them regularly. They must do the inner work against barriers – professional conditioning and personal mindsets.

More importantly, they must set clear health goals. This allows for mindfulness at every step, especially on busy days

2. Collaboration is key to expectation-setting.
Impacting employee health positively demands more than a plug-and-play approach. This is because each of us approaches best practices such as self-care differently. And so, our motivation triggers at work, too must be personalized and unique.

As ideas around health and wellbeing evolve, continuous discussions and learning are key to positive transformation. For instance, as the science of sleep catches up, we may want work hours to honor individual biorhythms while ensuring team time.

Ready to create an ecosystem that supports employee health and wellbeing? You can’t build an environment where everything is easy, but you can cultivate a culture and climate that enables your team to grow stronger and rise to challenges presented by the tough days. As Simone Biles puts it, “Hard days are the best because that’s where champions are made.”

Learn how Sogolytics can help you listen more systematically to employee needs so you can build a supportive space for success! Get started with a free trial or book a consultation with our team today to move your team forward tomorrow.