{"id":13881,"date":"2023-10-01T17:03:49","date_gmt":"2023-10-01T17:03:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insulation.org\/io\/?post_type=articles&p=13881"},"modified":"2023-11-01T17:10:30","modified_gmt":"2023-11-01T17:10:30","slug":"fostering-good-mental-health-the-construction-industry-moves-to-resolve-a-growing-personnel-issue","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/insulation.org\/io\/articles\/fostering-good-mental-health-the-construction-industry-moves-to-resolve-a-growing-personnel-issue\/","title":{"rendered":"Fostering Good Mental Health: The Construction Industry Moves to Resolve a Growing Personnel Issue"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Every employer wants a healthy and happy workforce. Robust levels of productivity, after all, contribute mightily to the bottom line. Recent times, however, have seen the rise of a threat to efficient operations: a growing incidence of employee mental health issues. \u201cNearly one in five adults is battling a mental health condition today,\u201d said Lynn Merritt, Senior Vice President for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (bcbs.com). \u201cAnd only about half are receiving adequate treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n

The workplace is being hit especially hard. Some 76% of full-time employees reported experiencing at least one mental health symptom in the past year, according to a survey from Mind Share Partners, a workplace wellness consulting firm (mindsharepartners.org). Moreover, more than half the Gen Zers who make up a growing percentage of the nation\u2019s workforce reported symptoms of anxiety and depression.<\/p>\n

The problem is especially acute in the construction industry. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, construction occupations have some of the highest rates of suicide. Of the variety of causes for this phenomenon, one of the most common is the
\npreponderance of injuries that accompany any occupation utilizing heavy equipment. \u201cWhen people are injured, they end up getting opioids to get rid of the pain and get back to work,\u201d said Bernie Dyme, President of Perspectives Ltd, a workplace wellness consulting firm. \u201cAnd substance abuse can very often lead to depression and suicide.\u201d<\/p>\n

The industry\u2019s seasonal nature can also create psychological stress. \u201cWork can be sporadic in the construction sector,\u201d noted Dyme. \u201cAnd whenever the economy slows down, there is less work to be had. That can also cause mental issues.\u201d Also, the industry often requires workers to be mobile, which can lead to disconnection from families, sleep deprivation, and mental and physical exhaustion. It can be difficult to gauge how employees are feeling when teams are dispersed across different locations and have little face time with managers.<\/p>\n

Another contributor is the male-dominated nature of the profession, which can often discourage the sharing of psychological problems. \u201cThe macho mentality doesn\u2019t want to talk about mental health issues, and the stigma surrounding them is much, much greater than in many other industries,\u201d said Dyme. \u201cWhen people keep their internal stresses bottled up, of course, the result is very often a worsening of their conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rising Costs<\/h2>\n

Unresolved mental health issues can lead to burnout, anxiety, and depression\u2014common causes of absenteeism and poor performance. Employers also incur direct costs in the form of spikes in disability claims and health insurance premiums. Finally, high stress levels can result in an increase in resignations at a time when employers can ill afford to lose personnel. \u201c50% of survey respondents reported leaving their jobs due to mental health reasons,\u201d said Michael Davis, Principal of Mind Share Partners. Notably, the comparable figures were 68% for Millennials and 80% for Gen Zers.<\/p>\n

The aftereffects of COVID-19 are the most immediate cause of the public\u2019s increasing stress levels. But while the pandemic has disrupted lives and created anxiety about the future, psychologists say other factors are also in play. \u201cShootings and other violence in the news, social justice issues, economic uncertainty, and a sense of political polarity have all made people keenly frightened,\u201d said Dyme. \u201cThey feel the world is not comfortable, safe, and secure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moreover, these societal pressures are hitting employees as they struggle to handle the growing workloads and longer hours resulting from the business world\u2019s continuing drive for greater productivity. Such workplace-specific pressures are only made worse by the tight labor conditions that have been the legacy of the great resignation. When job positions go unfilled, already overworked personnel must handle additional responsibilities.<\/p>\n

Getting Help<\/h2>\n

In the fall of 2022, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a panel of medical experts appointed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, recommended that all adult patients under the age of 65 be screened for anxiety during their physical exams. Anxiety is described as excessive fear or worry that interferes with an individual’s normal daily activities. Left unaddressed, anxiety can lead to depressive disorders.<\/p>\n

While screening for anxiety is a good start, businesses can also take steps to enhance the mental health of their employees. The most important one is to create a healthy work environment. \u201cTo hold onto people, companies need to build good corporate cultures where people feel connected,\u201d said Patrick J. Kennedy, Co-Founder and Director of One Mind at Work, a global coalition of organizations committed to the development of a standard for workplace mental health (onemindatwork.org). That means creating cultures of psychological safety where people feel respected by a company that cares about them.<\/p>\n

Opening up about mental health issues is critical. Supervisors need to eliminate any of their own lingering resistance to discussing the topic, and workers need to feel free to communicate when something is amiss. \u201cPeople have always been very reticent to say they have hidden disabilities because they are afraid of the reaction at work, of putting their job in jeopardy if they ask for accommodations,\u201d said Maureen Hotchner, a Workplace Wellness Consultant. \u201cWe need to erase the stigma of speaking about mental health and provide a way for people to get help.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is one area where Gen Zers are leading the way: Psychologists say people in their twenties are more comfortable talking about mental health issues than their older colleagues. Of course, not everyone will speak up when something is wrong, which is why employers must know how to spot employee behavior that might signify problems. Maybe Andrew has started to show up late for work, or has been calling in sick more often. Or Lisa has been going through the motions of her assigned duties without any real engagement. Or Mark has become argumentative with co-workers.<\/p>\n

The ability to spot signs of trouble presupposes a knowledge of the employee, and here is where supervisors and managers can be proactive. \u201cOne of the things that employers can do is build relationships with their people,\u201d said Davis. \u201cIt’s really hard to have a conversation with someone about their behavior when you haven’t checked in with them on a regular basis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mid-level management also must be brought aboard. \u201cA lot of training needs to be done at the higher levels of construction companies, especially with supervisors, in order to make it safer and okay for workers to come forward with depression or pain problems or addiction,\u201d said Dyme.<\/p>\n

Spotting changes in employee behavior is one thing. Responding appropriately is another. Rather than mentioning stress or mental health when approaching the individual, psychologists advise supervisors to only discuss observed behaviors. \u201cErratic or different behavior might be related to a mental health issue, or it might not,\u201d said Davis. \u201cMaybe the person has just not been getting enough sleep because a family member is sick, or they were up late playing video games or watching TV.\u201d Help the employee open up by asking what can be done to provide the resources required to improve performance. Would some adaptations help the person be at their best?<\/p>\n

Providing Resources<\/h2>\n

Given the human and business cost of workplace stress, it is little wonder a growing number of businesses are reaching out for help. Consider the experience of the Center for Workplace Mental Health, a division of the American Psychiatric Association that maintains a website for employers seeking assistance (workplacementalhealth.org). \u201cOver the last 5 years, the volume of requests that we’ve received has grown fourfold,\u201d said Director Darcy Gruttadaro. Visits to the organization\u2019s website doubled during the pandemic.<\/p>\n

Insurance companies also can provide assistance, and more employers are helping workers get the services they need by ensuring the company insurance program covers the requisite care. \u201cPart of the challenge is that the healthcare system has never been equitable in terms of providing services for, or paying claims of, mental or behavioral healthcare,\u201d said Dyme. \u201cCertainly not in the same way as they have the physical or medical side of things.\u201d<\/p>\n

While signing up for an appropriate plan is important, the fact remains that ensuring adequate care can still be elusive. \u201cYou may have robust mental health coverage, but if you don’t have enough therapists and psychiatrists in the health network, it amounts to a
\nplan without a promise of care,\u201d said Gruttadaro. \u201cFurthermore, many psychiatrists and therapists do not accept insurance because they have experienced administrative burdens and low reimbursement rates in health plan networks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another problem is a lack of sufficient personnel. \u201cEven if patients are lucky enough to find a practitioner in their network who takes new patients, they often must wait 3 to 6 months for an appointment,\u201d said Gruttadaro. Blue Cross Blue Shield has estimated that 77% of U.S. counties are underserved by therapists. Scarce resources are an especially common problem in rural communities.<\/p>\n

Here is where technology has come to the rescue, at least to some extent. The work-from-home trend sparked by the pandemic has opened the door to telemedicine, expanding the pool of potential medical personnel to include practitioners far from a patient\u2019s place of residence. \u201cBeing able to connect to a psychiatrist or therapist through a computer has been a real plus,\u201d said Gruttadaro.<\/p>\n

Remote treatment also can help resolve the special challenges experienced by the growing number of remote workers. There is evidence that isolation from colleagues can lead to mental health issues. \u201cWe typically get in the 16,000 range in terms of requests for our employer guides,\u201d said Gruttadaro. \u201cBut our title about working remotely on mental health has received more than 300,000 requests.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Quiz: How Well Do You Address Mental Health Issues?<\/h3>\n

Does your workplace encourage good employee mental health? Find out by taking this quiz. Score 10 points for each \u201cyes\u201d answer to these questions. Then, total your score and check your rating at the bottom of the quiz.<\/p>\n

Has your business taken the following steps?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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  1. Created a work environment that encourages employees to communicate openly about stressors and mental health issues?<\/li>\n
  2. Ensured that supervisors build healthy relationships with workers through regular check-ins?<\/li>\n
  3. Developed appropriate procedures for approaching employees who exhibit behavioral problems?<\/li>\n
  4. Encouraged autonomy, fairness, and enhanced employee self-worth with rewards and recognition?<\/li>\n
  5. Given special attention to the psychological well-being of remote workers?<\/li>\n
  6. Informed employees about available mental health resources, including clear instructions on where to go for help?<\/li>\n
  7. Modified policies and procedures around paid time off, flexible hours, and mental health days?<\/li>\n
  8. Reframed performance reviews as opportunities for feedback and learning?<\/li>\n
  9. Conducted pulse surveys to better understand ongoing stressors affecting employees?<\/li>\n
  10. Ensured the company health insurance program covers mental and psychological issues, and looked into telemedicine as a way to assist employees who need counseling?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    What is your score?<\/strong><\/p>\n