'I put on a mask every day and pretended to be fine'

The word ‘mental’ has had different connotations throughout my life. At school it was derogatory, and at university up North it was sought after - a positive descriptor.

It wasn’t until recently that I fully understood we all have mental health, in the same way we all have physical health - although I’m sure previous generations might disagree.

Mental health education has rightly found its way into the classroom, and will soon be compulsory. Larger businesses are able to allocate budget and personnel. But with 70 per cent of private sector employees working in SMEs, is there a mental health support gap emerging?

I run a three small businesses and decided to talk openly about my mental health issues in 2018, after suffering in silence for nearly two years. Like many, I put on a mask every day, turned up and pretended to be fine. 

I now know this is ‘presenteeism’, which I would argue is the biggest contributor to our declining productivity rates. I wasn’t fine and shouldn’t have been at work. It affected me, my team and the bottom line.

I lacked the courage, conviction and even the words to speak up. But I’m glad I did.

I am the leader, I need to be strong and get on with it, I told myself.

I felt ashamed. I worried that if I did speak up my team would leave, customers would lose confidence and we would never secure investment. 

In fact, the opposite was true; normalising mental health conversations at work encouraged others to open up, it endeared us to customers and redefined our culture for the better. Setting the tone from the top was the right thing to do. 

According to research shared by MIND, the mental health charity,

56 per cent of people have resigned or considered resigning due to workplace stress. Only one in two people say they feel comfortable talking about mental health at work, and two in five say they have experienced a work-related mental health issue in the last year. 

Businesses of all shapes and sizes can make adjustments to create a happier workplace. Some view such interventions as box-ticking and a drain on finances, rather than a solution for attracting and retaining talent, and boosting productivity. But from my experience it doesn’t need to be resource intensive.

We have Mental Health First Aiders and we’ve signed up to workplace charters,

but it’s often the simplest solutions that have the biggest impact. It all starts with creating a more inclusive culture: offering flexible working is a great starting point - this doesn’t automatically mean ad-hoc working from home.

Adjusting start and finish times or agreeing fixed days working from home can create a healthier balance for commuters, parents or carers. Taking time to understand the needs of your team shows you care. Introducing a buddy system is free and helps you get to know colleagues. I’m terrible at drinking water, so my buddy sticks a glass on my desk - simple stuff.

We go on team walks, do challenges and get out of the office for meetings. Changing your environment can reduce inhibitions and encourage conversation.

We’ve done all this without an HR function or much investment; it just took a bit of consideration and attention - and its working.

If someone is struggling, we can support them, let them take mental health day and signpost to professional help should they need it. 

So much of what we focus on is prevention; creating a healthy working environment where people can be open and bring more of their whole selves to work every day. It really is a no brainer.

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