Studies have shown that mental health challenges, especially anxiety and depression, were steadily growing in the years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly among young adults just as they were entering the workplace. The pandemic only compounded these issues and exacerbated the growing workplace mental health crisis.

 研究表明，在新冠疫情爆发前的几年里，焦虑和抑郁等心理健康问题正在逐步增加，尤其是在初入职场的年轻人中。此次疫情只是让这些问题变得更加复杂，并且加剧了日益严重的职场心理健康危机。

 These trends have dramatic implications for entrepreneurs and business owners. Employees who struggle with their mental health are less productive, more likely to miss time and more likely to job hop. As an employer, you can play a critical role in supporting employees’ mental health and preventing worker burnout through policies, benefits and the organizational culture you create.

 这些趋势对企业家和企业主产生巨大影响。有心理健康问题的员工工作效率较低，更有可能旷工和跳槽。作为雇主，你可以通过规定、福利和创造的公司文化，在帮助员工的心理健康和防止员工的倦怠方面发挥关键作用。

 A growing workplace mental health crisis. Mental health challenges are widespread and growing. More than 20% of U.S. adults experience mental illness annually, with 5% experiencing serious mental illness. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in 2020, mental illness was on the rise among the U.S. workforce.

 日益严重的工作场所心理健康危机。心理健康的问题普遍存在，而且不断增长。每年有超过20%的美国成年人患有精神疾病，其中5%患有严重的精神疾病。甚至在2020年新冠疫情爆发之前，美国劳动人口的精神疾病呈上升趋势。

 你可以通过以下方式在职场中采取有意义的措施：

 1.Be specific. When you tell employees that you care about their mental health, get specific. For example, “We have a ‘no emails after 6 p.m.’ policy,” or “We expect people to take their vacation days, and we’re tracking to make sure you do,” means more than a general statement such as “We care about work-life balance.”

 1. 言语要具体。当你告诉员工，你关心他们的心理健康时，要具体一点。例如，“我们有一个‘晚上6点后不发电子邮件’的规定，”或“我们希望员工能享受他们的假期，我们会确保你可以这样做，”这比“我们关心工作与生活的平衡”这样的笼统性声明更有意义。

 2.Establish and promote an EAP. Employee assistance programs (EAPs) are an increasingly popular employee benefit: More than 97% of large companies and 75% of midsize companies now offer EAPs. Through these programs, employees have a simple entry point for a variety of mental health services, including assessments, short-term counseling, referrals and follow-up services. However, as of 2016, fewer than 10% of employees who had access to EAPs were using them, primarily because they didn’t know they had one or didn’t know how to access the benefits. If you’re going to invest in providing an EAP, make sure you promote it through onboarding and internal communications to raise awareness .

2. 建立并推广员工援助项目。员工援助项目是一种越来越受欢迎的员工福利举措：超过97%的大型公司和75%的中型公司目前提供员工援助项目。通过这些项目，员工有一个简便的途径来获得各种心理健康服务，包括评估、短期咨询、转诊和后续服务。然而，截至2016年，在接触项目援助的员工中，只有不到10%的人在使用，主要是因为他们不知道自己享有该项目的权利，或者不知道如何获得这些福利。如果你打算投资提供员工援助项目，你要确保可以通过入职途径和内部沟通渠道来推广该项目，以提高使用意识。

 3.Build mental health into the workday. Edelstein advocates for office-wide time dedicated to mental health practices. “Providing a 30-minute virtual stress-reduction session during regular work time periodically gives everyone the opportunity to share a space of wellness,” she said. “It also shows that the company values employees’ well-being enough.”

 3. 将心理健康纳入工作日中。爱德斯坦主张在整个办公室里设有专门用于心理健康服务的时间。她说：“在正常工作时间内定期提供30分钟的虚拟减压课程，让每个人都有机会分享一个健康的空间。”她说，“这也表明公司足够重视员工的健康。”

 4.Trust employees. Time and attendance policies signal trust, or a lack thereof. As long as employees aren’t exceeding the number of allowable sick or personal days per year, don’t ask employees what they’re using them for, and make sure they know you won’t ask. Knowing that you can take a mental health day or use a sick day to care for a loved one without raising eyebrows reduces stress. Better yet, break down the barriers between vacation days and sick days, and let employees take the time they need in the ways they need it.

 4. 信任员工。时间和考勤规定是信任和不信任的指示灯。只要员工没有超过每年规定的病假或事假的数量，就不要问员工的请假意图，并确保员工明白你不会问。当你知道可以利用心理健康日或请病假来照顾自己的爱人而不引起别人的注意，就可以减少自身的压力。更好的是，打破休假日和病假之间的界线，让员工以自己需要的方式利用时间。

 5.Prioritize diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I). According to research by The Hartford and the National Alliance on Mental Illness, more than one-quarter of Black workers rate their mental health as fair or poor – the highest rate of any group. The same study found that 29% of Black and 42% of Asian American/Pacific Islander employees believed that stigma was preventing their colleagues from seeking help. Stronger DE&I policies – especially DE&I policies that intentionally include a focus on employee mental health – can help to address these disparities.

 5. 优先考虑多样性、公平性和包容性（DE&I）。根据哈特福德和国家精神疾病联盟的研究，超过四分之一的黑人员工评价自己的心理健康为一般或较差，这一评价结果占所有群体中第一。同一研究发现，29%的黑人和42%的亚裔/太平洋岛员工认为，污名化阻碍了他们的同事寻求帮助。更有力的DE&I政策，特别是重点关注员工心理健康的DE&I政策可以帮助解决这些分歧。

词汇小结：

• compound [ ˈkɑːmpaʊnd] ：加重; 使复杂化; 混合

• exacerbate [ɪɡˈzæsərbeɪt] ：使恶化; 使加重; 激怒

• job hop ：跳槽

• stigma [ˈstɪɡmə] ：耻辱，污名; 烙印

• disparity [dɪˈspærəti] ：不同; 不等; 不一致

编辑：ETTBL

翻译：Shaw Henry

材料来源：Business News Daily

*配图取自网络，仅供学习分享使用，侵删