Make better mental health a target, too

As a business leader or manager, you set various goals and targets for your team members, especially those in sales. You want your customer acquisition costs and churn to be reduced, average deal value and customer lifetime value to be increased, a certain number of calls and demos done in a week, and so on. Your teammates work day in and day out to achieve all these goals for your organization.

While whatever sales target you set for your team is focused on the outside, there's one important target that must be focused inside. Interestingly, this one internal target goes a long way in helping your teammates achieve all those external ones—and it's none other than better mental health.

It's worth taking seriously, because according to the WHO, every $1 spent on improving employees' mental health can result in productivity that's worth $4. But you should give the issue time and attention because it's simply the right and most empathetic thing to do.

Irrespective of what motivates you to achieve it, ensuring better mental health for your teammates leads to better employee experience, which in turn translates into better customer experiences.

Now, what steps can you take to ensure that your teammates enjoy good mental health and contribute without burning out?

#1 - Learn the basics of mental health issues

For a long time, mental health was seen as a taboo topic, such that people hesitated to talk openly about the mental health issues they faced. In the past few years, however, there's been more conversation about the importance of mental health and many people of influence have opened up about their struggles on this front.

As a business leader, you first have to accept the fact that everyone is vulnerable to mental health issues. Approach the subject with an open and unbiased mind. If you shed any preconceived notions about mental health issues you might have, you might see that you too have gone through something similar at some point in your life. This realization can help you be more empathetic towards your subordinates.

The willingness to unlearn and relearn is much more important if you lead sales reps. Why? Because due to the nature of the function they perform, sales reps are assumed to always be full of energy and confidence. But at the end of the day, they're human, too, and therefore have their highs and lows. Maybe they missed a target and are now starting to doubt their abilities. Maybe a client meeting didn't go the way they expected and anxiety is starting to engulf them. You'll be able to see the signs early and take necessary actions—but only if you understand the basics of mental health issues.

#2 - Talk about your own challenges and encourage reps to open up about theirs

You can't know what your teammates go through unless they open up—and to get them to open up, you must first gain their trust. How do you do that? By walking the walk. When you talk openly about your own mental health challenges—both past and present—your teammates understand that you're serious about helping them with theirs. This will encourage them to speak more freely about their challenges and seek your guidance.

Also, when you share stories of your own issues and how you overcame them, your teammates will be able to gain new perspectives and solutions. No matter how hard one tries to separate their professional life from the personal, both tend to impact one another adversely at times. When someone in your team faces a situation like that, your experience as a senior team member can help them find ways to juggle between the two more effectively.

#3 - Include mental health as a topic to discuss in one-on-ones

As a leader, you've now discussed matters related to mental health during team meetings and gained your teammates' trust in this area. Does that mean they'll all open up at the same place and time? Some might. Most might not, because while they may trust you, they'll likely confide to you only in private. So make use of one-on-one meetings with your teammates as an opportunity to learn about their mental health.

Make a conscious effort to do this, because if you speak about the importance of good mental health in team meetings and don't bring up the topic in one-on-ones, your teammates might start to wonder if you really do care about it. Again, listen with an open mind without any judgment and assure that you and the organization will provide the support they need. Most times, a willing ear and a word of support are enough to invigorate someone.

#4 - Make professional help available for your team members

No matter how much support and assurance you give, sometimes, mental health issues are best handled only by professional therapists or psychiatrists. Think of it this way: Whatever support you provide as a peer would be akin to first aid only and can't be a substitute for a doctor consultation. In cases of, say, depression, severe anxiety, or extreme grief, there might be things that can be properly identified and dealt with only by professional counselors.

Connect with individual therapists or organizations that deliver mental health services so that your team members can contact them in private and seek help when needed. Alternatively, you can provide reimbursements for any therapy consultations made by your teammates. That way you help take away not just the mental burden off your teammates, but also the financial burden.

#5 - Provide means to unwind at the workplace

Just like how all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, all work and no relaxation can make your teammates stressed people! And most of the time, people in stressful jobs can get back their mojo if they just relax and recharge for a while. If you don't believe that, you can turn to the pages of history for examples of how someone found creative inspiration or solutions by just taking a break from the problem. Great examples of such eureka moments are the conception of the periodic table of elements by Dmitri Mendeleev and the invention of the iconic sewing machine needle by Elias Howe. Both ideas came to the respective inventor's minds when they were asleep!

Provide your teammates with ways to unwind and de-stress in the workplace. That said, you don't have to provide anything extravagant. Most of the time, a ping pong table or a foosball table can offer great momentary distraction from the day-to-day stress of work. Additionally or alternatively, you can provide a closed, silent space where teammates can meditate. Provisions and gestures like these, again, go a long way in cementing your teammates' trust in you.

#6 - Prioritize work-life balance and revisit targets periodically

We finally come to the most important part that's directly linked to stress caused by work. When you set targets for your teammates, keep in mind crucial factors, such as work-life balance, resources available, constraints, and contingencies. Don't set targets that force your team members to work around the clock or sacrifice weekends on a regular basis.

It's important to remember the fact that work is part of a person's life—and not the other way around. Having to work extra hours or on weekends is fine if it occurs once in a while. Your teammates will be understanding if it's a rare occurrence. However, if it's the norm in your organization, the leadership team needs to do some serious rethinking.

Also, remember that the workplace can never replace one's family, no matter how many times and in how many ways the idea is put forward. If work is the reason a team member can't attend their kid's school performance or be with a loved one undergoing surgery, they'll start resenting working for you. If work forces someone to miss events or emergencies repeatedly, the employee's stress will go up and the probability that they'll quit the organization will increase. Keep factors like these in mind when you set targets to make sure your teammates appreciate working for you. Discuss the targets during one-on-ones and announce changes, if any, in team meetings.

It should now be evident that shying away from discussing mental health issues is a thing of the past. Today, people are becoming more aware and empathetic towards matters that affect one's mental well-being, and the business sphere is no exception. Prioritizing your teammates' mental health proves to them that you genuinely care for them. Like we mentioned earlier, when one feels good on the inside, they can perform better and achieve great things on the outside. And that, friends, is how you translate good employee experiences into better customer experiences.