During the pandemic, one thing became abundantly clear: mental health and productivity go hand-in-hand. When an environment supports the needs of its workforce, the odds of the company thriving go up dramatically. In the staffing industry, that means faster, higher-quality placements, something that benefits recruitment firms and client companies alike.
Cultivating an environment in your staffing firm that supports mental health is typically far easier than you’d expect. Here’s how to get started.
Embrace Flexibility
The pandemic proved to many companies that remote employees can be incredibly productive. Additionally, it showed that far more roles could be functionally remote than many expected, largely thanks to technologies like cloud-based platforms, VPNs, web conferencing, and similar solutions.
While social distancing isn’t necessarily required today, keeping some degree of workplace flexibility is a smart move. Often, it gives employees far more control over their professional lives, which can boost morale. Plus, it makes work-life balance easier to achieve, which is also beneficial to mental health.
If you can’t rely solely on remote-only positions with fully flexible schedules, do as much as your staffing firm can support. Since your team will have some ability to adjust their work life when needed, it still makes a difference.
Encourage Disconnecting
The staffing industry is fast-paced, and it isn’t always confined to a traditional 8-to-5 schedule. However, if your recruiters are adopting an always-on mentality, that isn’t always best for their mental health. The inability to fully disconnect allows their work life to permeate their personal time. In turn, they never feel like they get a break.
Instead of allowing an always-on mentality to reign supreme, actively encourage your employees to disconnect during their off-hours. If some level of availability after hours is legitimately required, at least set boundaries that outline clear expectations and create defined, predictable opportunities to be fully offline. It leads to better work-life balance, ensuring mental health can remain a priority.
Offer Mental Health Benefits
Caring for a person’s mental health requires more than simply encouraging them to practice self-care in many cases. That’s why employers that genuinely value the mental health of their teams offer benefits designed to assist in those areas specifically. Whether that’s access to an employee assistance program (EAP), mental health benefits through medical insurance, appointments life, career, or financial coaches, or anything else, there are mechanisms available to ensure broad wellness.
Adding mental health days to the available paid leave pools is also wise. That shows employees that they can take a spontaneous break if the need arises, allowing them to care for their mental health quickly and without sacrificing pay.
Creating a Healthy Environment
Ultimately, creating a healthy environment for staffing firms isn’t challenging, particularly if you act proactively. Use the tips above as starting points, ensuring your team has everything it needs to thrive.
At Essium, we aim to reduce stress for staffing firms by helping them bridge the talent gap and build top-tier teams quickly and efficiently. Schedule a consultation call with us today!
