Employee Engagement Programs: How to Improve Your Mental Health

Engaged Vs. Disengaged Employees

A recent Gallup survey showed that only 33 percent of today's employees are engaged in their jobs while more than 60 percent are not engaged or actively disengaged from what they do each day.

• Engaged employees are happy to go to work each day, they’re engaged in their work and with their colleagues, and they feel a sense of meaning and purpose in the work they do.
• Disengaged employees are the opposite. They may not hate their jobs, but they have no interest in them either. They feel disconnected from their colleagues, disengaged from their work, and without any sense of purpose or meaning in the job they do.
• Engaged Employees Are More Productive
• It’s not surprising that engaged employees are more productive: they show up early and stay late, they come up with better ideas for improving processes, and they feel like their contributions matter in their workplace.
• This can be seen clearly in Gallup polls about employee engagement. The average employee who is actively disengaged contributes $3,400 less value per year than an actively engaged employee would if fully engaged.
• Engagement Leads to Lower Staff Turnover Rates
• Disengaging employees tend to leave sooner than other workers: active disengagement correlates with a turnover of as much as 33%, while active engagement correlates with a reduced turnover by 25%. This makes sense considering that disengaged employees aren’t happy where they work.

Worker’s Mental Health

Taking steps to improve your mental health is key to improving personal productivity and a positive work environment. The benefits of employee engagement in the workplace are numerous, but one of our favorites is the influence it has on mental health.

As you may know, mental health can be defined as an individual’s well-being or success in life, including their emotional and social functioning. This includes how well they relate to others as well as their ability to deal with stress and anxiety. Physical health also plays a role in mental wellness: people who work out regularly feel more energized throughout the day, making it easier for them to focus on tasks at hand without feeling distracted by fatigue or other ailments such as headaches or sore limbs from sitting all day long!

It's true that remote workers miss out on some of the personal engagement and communication that happens between colleagues.

One thing that managers and employees alike seem to agree on: remote workers miss out on some of the personal engagement and communication that happens between colleagues. Having a physical space where you can see your team members and talk to them every day has a huge impact on group cohesion, which is critical for any organization.

It's easy to underestimate the importance of social interaction at work—but when you take it away, it can make your company less productive overall.

While remote workers can't gather for yearly company retreats, companies can still make sure there are opportunities for the team to bond in a virtual way.

With the rise of technology and reliance on remote work, it's easy to get caught up in our own bubble. While remote workers can't gather for yearly company retreats, companies can still make sure there are opportunities for the team to bond in a virtual way.

A few ideas:

• Host a weekly happy hour or monthly team lunch that encourages interaction outside of work. You could even hold an annual picnic or barbeque where your entire office gets together for some fun in the sun (or snow).
• Host quarterly team dinners that don't cost too much but allow people from different departments and levels of seniority to connect over food and drinks—plus, this is an awesome opportunity for new hires as well!
• Have everyone show up at least once a quarter with their families or significant others so that you get to know each other outside of work hours.
• Make sure there are plenty of opportunities throughout the year when employees can spend time with one another outside the office—and be sure they'll have fun doing so!

There is nothing more important than making sure the team is feeling supported and happy in their lives outside of work.

When I say “outside of work,” I don't mean that you should be checking Facebook or Twitter on your break. You should not do this at all because that's a violation of company policy!

But what I mean is that when we take time off from work for mental health reasons, we shouldn't feel like we have to justify ourselves to anyone at the office. Similarly, if your boss asks why you're taking leave next Tuesday morning and you tell him it's because “of some stuff going on in my life right now,” he shouldn't give you a funny look or ask whether everything's okay with your family or anything like that (even though they probably will). The point of these programs isn't so much about getting things done as it is about giving people permission and support to take care of themselves without fear of judgment or harassment by coworkers who don't understand how important mental health really is.

Provide Work Tools and Resources for better productivity

The best way to boost productivity is by providing employees with tools that make it easier for them to achieve goals and complete tasks on time. A few examples include:

• Software that tracks hours worked so that you don't have to manually track your time in a spreadsheet or journaling app;
• Video editing tools for easier reports and presentations. 
• An email inbox management tool (like UnrollMe), which will allow you to streamline your inbox so that you never have any messages sitting in there longer than necessary; and
• A calendar scheduling app like Calendly, which allows users to schedule meetings by booking times via email rather than having back-and-forth conversations about meeting specifics over text message or Slack chat threads

Conclusion

It's never too late to start improving your mental health, and we hope this article has given you some ideas on how to do just that. Remember that even if you're not able to gather in person with your team as often as you'd like (for example, if they are remote workers), there are still ways for everyone to feel supported and valued through virtual bonding activities such as sharing photos from their vacations or getting together over Skype for a game night!