Psychotherapy and employee mental health are topics that this year’s HR.Weekend will use to depart from traditional lectures on human resources and business. One of the key topics to be discussed in Rovinj will be psychotherapy in the service of employee development. With Dr. Mia Popić, a psychologist, psychotherapist, business psychologist, and director of the Sinergija Center, you will have a unique opportunity to discover the secret to feeling better at work.
Employee mental health
In the days when our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents were sitting at their jobs, mental health was not a topic that concerned companies. Dr. Mia Popić, a psychologist, psychotherapist, business psychologist, and director of the Sinergija Center, revealed when and why mental health became important to companies.
“Mental health is crucial for employee productivity. Today, we can no longer look at employee achievement independently of how they feel. If they are facing psychological blockages, which often accompany mental health problems, it will certainly reflect on their work performance,” explains Mia Popić. She adds that it is high time for mental health to become a topic that HR professionals, responsible for employee development, address.
Mental health programs
To achieve good results and ensure a safe and healthy work environment, HR professionals first need to start with themselves. Good education is the foundation of everything, and what every human resources professional needs to recognize is the link between stress management and successful job performance. Once this link is recognized and the importance of the topic is understood, only then can the development of mental health programs aimed at employee development begin.
“The principle that every HR department should adhere to is that people are the main value of an organization, and the key value of those people is their health,” emphasized Mia Popić.
To ensure that these ideas are not just empty words and wishes, one of the tasks of HR departments is to introduce activities that will ensure employee satisfaction.
Examples of good practice
But what are the activities that encourage employees to feel good about themselves and within the team they work with? One good practice example, conducted by Popić, is undoubtedly the lunch and learn method. The idea behind this interesting activity is for employees to gather during lunch and discuss everything related to workplace stress with HR.
A good practice example is also being implemented at the Sinergija Center, where the emphasis is on the psychological safety of employees.
“After it was shown that teams with the best results have a sense of psychological safety, unlike average teams that do not, it became clear that psychological safety is the link between mental health and top business results. That’s why I encourage HR professionals to educate themselves on this concept because within it lies the answer to why mental health should become an integral part of every HR strategy,” explains Popić.
Psychotherapy or coaching?
While many wonder, “Is there room for psychotherapy in the workplace “and “Is coaching a better approach?”, Mia Popić reveals that psychotherapy will teach you how to manage stress and prevent professional burnout.
“While coaching is much more suitable for a corporate context, I think we must not lose sight of the fact that psychotherapeutic work can also be a significant form of support for employees. Because if you expect employees to ‘push through’ when times are tough, you can also expect that there’s a good chance they will burn out. Then the least you can do for them is to provide psychological support during periods of crisis and transition,” explained Popić.
In conclusion, the goal of psychotherapy is to provide employees with the opportunity to learn something about themselves, their emotions, and to acquire stress management skills, understand their “triggers,” and explore alternative ways of reacting.
You can find all the information about the new, bigger, and even better edition of HR.Weekend on their social media profiles on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
