Who takes care of your mental health?

Although, as a result of the pandemic, the importance of taking care of the physical and emotional well-being of collaborators and the 66% of companies in Latin America already address mental health risk, according to Mercer Marsh Benefits, largely directed from top management,who takes care of the leaders?Who cares about your health and well-being?

Having a leadership role within an organization does not exempt from presenting problems related to mental health, Because a stressed leader can affect their own performance, that of their collaborators, and the results of the company, that is why it is important that senior management take care of their own well-being, not only that of the workers.

There are organizations that have programs focused on the accompaniment and well-being of managers, but companies should not segment benefits, but create policies that apply to all members of the organization, highlights Ariel Almazán, leader of Health consulting at Mercer Marsh Benefits.

Almazán details that the leader must set the example and take care of his own mental health; know and appropriately manage their emotions, “because before being a leader I am a person and before that I have to cover certain needs, in order to later spread the message to my work teams and promote this culture of a healthy work environment”.

Elizabeth Paullada, executive director of PageGroup, agrees with this, and says that it should be break the paradigm that the leader is always good, it is necessary to communicate when things go wrong because that is how the message of sensitivity is passed, that we are all vulnerable and that it is not bad.

Paullada says that the leader is usually interpreted as a father of a family who is attentive and takes care of others, and just as a “happy father has a happy son, a happy and stable leader has an organization healthy”.

How to create conditions of well-being?

The work overloada salary that does not correspond to the demands of the position and excessive and inflexible hours are some of the factors that generate stress in collaborators, according to the Page Group 2023 Remuneration Study.

The way to prevent it, according to specialists, is to recognize the impact that mental health generates on the quality of life, productivity and commitment of workers, which is usually reduced, evaluate the current state of the worker, their level of stress and burnout, and from this create programs.

Paullada recommends creating hybrid work scheme, flexible hourswellness webinars, and outside help from psychologists.

It is also necessary to end the stigma that surrounds mental health, as it is often considered a shameful matter. To do this, companies can establish wellness policies and create a culture of trust.

“The leader has to be human, understand the needs of his people and listen to them, understand that he works with people and they have very particular needs, that they have interactions in other settings. That work does not have to be a blocker of relationships, but a promoter of them, of a comprehensive well-being that includes the emotional, physical, social and financial part”, Almazán specified.