COVID-19. Hybrid. The Great Resignation. Mass reports of staff burnout.
The past few years have created a perfect storm of headwinds for leaders - and when leaders suffer, the whole organisation does.
Here are three steps HR and wellbeing leads can take to look after their leaders in 2022 - the crucial first step to building resilience across a whole organisation:
1. Include mental fitness training in leader onboarding
Make mental fitness training a necessary and formalised part of leader onboarding. This sets the tone for a culture which not only normalises but prioritises mental fitness – seeing it as an essential ingredient to good working practice, productivity and delivering commercial results.
2. Bring your leaders together to set your Mental Fitness vision
Set your Mental Fitness vision as an organisation. Ask your leaders to contribute to this vision to increase buy-in from the top down.
3. Make mental fitness visible and integrate it into the everyday
Encourage your leaders to visibly integrate mental fitness training into their everyday schedules – clearly committing to an activity or reflection time to build their mental skills . Seeing leaders make time for their own mental fitness encourages others to do the same and can transform workplace productivity. This also protects against chronic stress and burnout – reducing the need for your people to take time off when stress gets too much for them.
