No matter where you work or what you’re working on, we all have those days when stress and anxiety can undermine our productivity and focus. It is a universal truth that when we feel close to burning out, we can’t do our best work.

Even before COVID-19 struck, studies were starting to show how positive work cultures promote productivity far better than more cut-throat and highly pressured environments.  Any business - regardless of size - depends on its employees. Take it from us: teamwork is the key to securing company success. So it follows that looking after ourselves and our team is paramount to a happy and productive workplace. But how do you do this, in practical terms?

Promote a healthy work-life balance

Would flexible hours work better for people in your office? What about members of staff who’d better benefit from a permanent shift to remote or hybrid working? How can you accommodate your employees' needs? Take a moment to ask yourself these questions and apply them to your team; are you able to make adjustments that will better suit your staff and increase employee satisfaction and productivity all in one? 

You can always start small. For example, adopting a ‘no work emails outside of 8 am-6 pm’ policy could encourage your staff to switch off and enjoy their evenings. To make a change like this stick you - and the rest of your senior team - need to model the behaviour. It’s no good telling people to switch off, while still visibly working 24/7. Feel like you really can’t switch off yourself? Then use a scheduler so that any emails written after hours are sent automatically at 8 am the next morning.

Celebrate the wins

People like to feel appreciated and this is no different while at work. One way to guarantee you’re doing this is by celebrating small accomplishments. Whenever possible, make a show of celebrating your staff and their achievements, be that in the office, in your staff newsletter or through a comment on LinkedIn or Slack. If an employee sees that their contribution is valued, they are more likely to feel resilient when faced with difficult tasks.

Listen to feedback and take action

Hosting regular team meetings can help employees feel heard. This might take the form of a dedicated Slack channel or monthly meeting for staff to discuss what’s working for them and what they feel could be improved. Providing your team with a safe space to voice their concerns and share successes creates an opportunity for everyone to learn and improve (including you!). 

Is your door open - literally and figuratively - for your to talk about how things are going? It can be a good policy to implement if you want your employees to feel like you are listening. But be careful - the secret to making sure this leads to positive mental health is making sure that you regularly take action based on the feedback you receive. Having your concerns ignored doesn’t make anyone feel good.

Showing your gratitude

Nothing says ‘we appreciate your value’ quite like surprising your team with a small token of your gratitude every now and then. This could be in the shape of a gift voucher around birthdays and holidays, a monthly staff breakfast or even having a few company days out in the calendar.

Revamp your company benefits

The other thing you could consider is offering one of the many workplace solutions now available with a specific focus on company mental health and wellbeing. Headspace for Work, for example, offers an employee mental health solution where your team can access hundreds of meditations and exercises they’d otherwise have to fork out for themselves. Spill is another platform offering accessible wellbeing support for employees through Slack and Microsoft Teams and can also help employers to promote a more emotionally open culture across the workforce. And you don’t have to have hundreds of employees to introduce wellbeing benefits - Spill has a free package for businesses with less than 6 employees.