How to Take An Effective Mental Health Day Off

This year many of us have had first-hand experience with psychological symptoms such stress, anxiety, or depression. For some it may have just been a fear of the unknown,  demotivation and lack of focus. How many of us have actually had this conversation at work with colleagues or with our managers? These conversation around personal struggles and symptoms of emotional stress need to happen to help create understanding and empathy while encouraging people to reach out for support. However, this is only possible in a psychologically safe work environment.

The notion of psychological safety was first introduced in 1999 by Harvard Business School professor, Amy Edmondson. She defined a psychologically safe workplace as one where you feel at ease with admitting to a mistake,  pointing out a mistake made by a team member, speaking about work-related matters without censoring yourself and trying out new things. Where people are not full of fear, and not trying to cover their tracks to avoid being embarrassed or punished.

Over the years, the definition of psychological safety has broadened and is not limited to voicing work opinions and addressing team conflict. Psychological safety also means the comfort to admit personal vulnerabilities and struggles. The way organizations are currently managing the pandemic crisis will have an impact on how psychologically safe their employees feel. In the current climate, reduced resources, job insecurity,  survivors guilt, and lack of clarity can be seen as a few variables likely to have an impact on open and honest communication in the workplace.  Research also shows people who work from home  tend to take fewer sick days than office based staff. They feel pressured to work despite being ill, for many it is the fear of losing their jobs. Internal EAPs may have seen a dip in their utilization due to anxieties and concerns regarding confidentiality and job security.

The current climate and it’s challenges has also put managers in a more delicate position. With teams working from home, managers need to ensure their team members are productive, resilient and at the same time feel safe enough to call in sick when they are unwell.

Psychological safety at work takes effort, and is achievable. It is about providing an open, non-judgmental environment, where open and honest conversations are encouraged. The impact of the pandemic needs to be acknowledged and stress needs to be normalized. It doesn’t stop here though, as employees need to then be provided with resources and support to cope with their acknowledged struggles.

 If you are unsure about how safe your team feels, Amy Edmondson introduced a set of questions to measure “team psychological safety”. And now with the help of tools such as Survey Monkey or Mentimeter collating data is a simple and easy process.

Team members can be asked how strongly they agreed or disagreed with these statements:

1.      If I make a mistake in this team, it is held against me.

2.      Members of this team are able to bring up problems and tough issues.

3.      People on this team sometimes reject others for being different.

4.      It is safe to take a risk in this team.

5.      It is difficult to ask other members of this team for help.

6.      No one on this team would deliberately act in a way that undermines my efforts.

7.      Working with members of this team, my unique skills and talents are valued and utilized.

As managers and leaders it is important we ourselves feel psychologically safe, find ways to take care of ourselves, know when to reach out for support — and knowing where to find that support. Can’t resist but to add in my aviation analogy (as cheesy as it sounds), place your own oxygen mask first then reach out to help others.

Unfortunately, organisations do tend to overlook the adverse impact a psychologically unsafe environment may have on a business. Workplace psychological safety is as critical for business success, continuity and performance as is physical health and safety.  

Psychological safety is vital in building a healthy and resilient workforce. The events of this year have been a significant challenge, but at the same time a strong reminder for us to work towards providing our colleagues and our teams a safe and positive work environment.