As a manager, the well-being of your team is in your hands.
While you can't eliminate all their stress, you have more power than you realize to support your employees' mental health.
Don't view your role as solely maximizing productivity—your people are human beings with emotional and psychological aspects.
Their performance and engagement will improve if you show that you genuinely care about them as individuals.
This may feel like uncharted territory, but having the courage to change your leadership approach could transform your culture.
Are you willing to be daring, to go against the status quo? It won't always be easy, but small efforts to build trust, empathy, and flexibility will pay off in the long run.
Today, Mental Health Wellness Kenya will explore six daring ways you can implement to enhance your employees' mental health and build a resilient team.
1 - Be Vulnerable about Your Life Challenges
Hold on, don't throw stones at me, I am not saying you share very deep and personal stuff. Just the simple ways you sometimes struggle with anxiety, worry, feelings of inadequacy, and failures.
You do not have to share the entire story, but let your employees know that you also struggle with emotional and psychological issues. Traditionally, managers are expected to:
- Project strength
- Hide weaknesses
- Keep their personal lives under wraps
However, daring to open up and show vulnerability can foster deeper connections with employees and build trust.
As a manager, sharing your own experiences grappling with work-life balance, mental health struggles, or current life challenges makes you more human. When employees see you're not perfect, they feel less alone in their battles.
However, it's important to strike a balance. While sharing personal experiences can be powerful, maintain professionalism and avoid overburdening your team with your issues.
This approach requires finesse, as the goal is to uplift and connect, not to burden or distress. Here is an example of the right and wrong way to share.
Right Approach: During a team meeting, you share how you once struggled with meeting tight project deadlines. You discuss the strategies you employed to manage your time better.
Wrong Approach: In the middle of a presentation, you abruptly talk about your recent breakup, leaving your team confused and uncomfortable with the personal overshare.
2 - Be Flexible But Require Results
A study by FlexJobs in 2021 found that 97% of employees surveyed said they want flexibility in where and when they work. This preference cuts across all generations in the workforce but was especially important for Millennial and Gen Z workers.
As the study explains, flexibility is now seen as a key component of job satisfaction and engagement. Employees who are given more autonomy over their schedules and location feel trusted, less stressed, and more motivated to produce quality work.
The following table suggests areas you can offer more flexibility depending on the industry you are in.
| Area of Flexibility | How to Implement |
| Work Hours | Allow employees to have flexible start and end times within a set range (e.g., 7:00 AM - 10:00 AM start) |
| Remote Work | Offer the option to work remotely on certain days |
| Breaks and Lunch | Allow employees to structure their breaks and lunchtimes according to their preferences |
| Task Sequencing | Let employees determine the order in which they complete tasks |
| 5. Job Sharing | Enable employees to share responsibilities and work part-time |
| Personal Development Time | Provide time for employees to pursue learning and skill development |
Managers who want to attract and retain talent in the evolving workforce should make remote or hybrid arrangements available. Enabling workers to have flexibility shows that their mental health and well-being is a priority.
However, managers must also implement accountability systems to ensure flexibility does not lead to complacency. With the right balance, flexibility coupled with responsibility benefits both managers and employees.
Related: Breaking the Stigma: What You Need to Know About Mental Health Awareness in the Workplace
3 - Have Frequent Check-Ins With Your Employees
The once-a-year formal performance review is outdated and ineffective. Dare to revolutionize your leadership style by having frequent, informal check-ins with employees.
Don't just discuss tasks—make it a two-way dialogue about their overall well-being. Ask open-ended questions and actively listen without judgment. Examples of open-ended questions are:
- How are you feeling about your work lately? Is there anything making you feel particularly stressed or overwhelmed right now?
- What aspects of your job are going well? What parts are challenging for you?
- How are things going outside of work? Is anything affecting your focus or energy levels?
- What are you most excited about? What are you concerned or worried about?
Seek to understand their needs and challenges on and off the job. Some may be skeptical of your intentions at first.
However, persistently following up and having candid conversations demonstrates you genuinely care about employees as human beings.
The daring aspect lies in consistency. Scheduling frequent check-ins might challenge traditional managerial practices.
Nevertheless, this approach cultivates a culture of continuous improvement and care. It shows that you prioritize their growth and happiness, fostering motivation and loyalty.
4 - Talk Less and Listen More
You may wonder how listening more is a daring act for managers. But it's courageous and even risky because it goes against the notion that leaders should always be talking and directing.
The traditional view is that listening shows weakness or indecisiveness. However, daring to talk less and listen more fosters trust, empathy, and understanding with employees.
Being fully present and giving them your undivided attention without interrupting demonstrates you respect what they say.
Don't rush to give advice or solve problems. Listening shows you care about employees’ perspectives and experiences. They will feel comfortable opening up about mental health challenges, knowing you want to understand.
Listening also enables you to better identify issues affecting employee well-being that may be impacting their work. You gain insights you'd otherwise miss.
While it may feel awkward at first to talk less in meetings and one-on-ones, you'll forge deeper connections. Employees will feel heard and respected, not just ordered around.
5 - Regularly Recognize and Reward Efforts
Who doesn't love being appreciated for their effort? Everyone desires their hard work to be valued.
As a manager, endeavor to regularly recognize and reward employees’ efforts—not just measurable outcomes. It’s easy to only celebrate the end results. But shift your focus to acknowledge efforts made along the way. Praise an employee’s:
- Persistence through challenges
- Creativity in problem-solving
- Time invested to master a new skill
- Willingness to collaborate
- Care shown to teammates
Recognizing effort demonstrates you notice people’s process and progress. Employees will feel seen, motivated, and supported to grow.
The table that follows gives you ideas of how to recognize and reward your employees using tangible and intangible rewards.
| Type of Reward | Tangible Rewards | Intangible Rewards |
| Achievement Awards | Engraved plaques, trophies, certificates | Public recognition during team meetings or company-wide announcements |
| Gift Cards | Restaurant, online shopping, entertainment venues | Personalized thank-you note expressing appreciation |
| Additional Time Off | Extra vacation days, extended weekends | Flexibility in work hours or remote work options |
| Professional Development Opportunities | Training workshops, online courses | Mentorship or opportunities to lead special projects |
| Wellness Packages | Gym memberships, spa treatments | Acknowledgment of their work-life balance efforts |
| Team Outings | Dinner, team-building activities | Expressing trust in their decision-making by delegating tasks |
| Exclusive Invitations | VIP event access, industry conferences | Encouragement to share their expertise in internal workshops |
| Personalized Gifts | Customized desk accessories, tech gadgets | Actively seeking their input on important decisions |
| Public Praise | Shout-outs on social media or company website | Opportunities to represent the team in cross-functional meetings |
6 - Offer Regular Mental Health Support and Training
Many managers view mental health as a taboo topic best avoided in the workplace. This mindset is detrimental and isolating for employees struggling with issues like anxiety, depression, or burnout.
Dare to break the stigma by offering regular mental health support and training. Set the tone by speaking openly about the importance of well-being. Bring in experts to conduct workshops on resilience, stress management, mindfulness, and more.
Mental Health Wellness Kenya offers mental health and stress management training for employees. We also provide group counseling sessions for those already struggling with major life challenges.
Contact us, and let us help you enhance productivity by empowering your employees to take charge of their mental health.
