Anna Sebastian Perayil, a young Chartered Accountant at EY, was subjected to immense work pressure and stress that ultimately led to her demise. The immense demands of the job took a devastating toll on her mental and physical health despite all her academic achievements and passion for her profession. How much this loss will ring across the corporate world remains to be seen, but let us not forget this girl who went to an early grave due to workplace stress, an issue that has been bothering people intensely in recent times.
Her family members openly discuss their pain, and they expect that Anna's case will open the demand for seriousness from organizations in treating mental problems. It throws light on the neglected risks of overwork, stress, and lack of mental health care for employees in the corporate field, especially in multinational corporations.
Workplace stress can have a profound impact on the mental well-being of employees. Anna’s story highlights the crucial need for organizations to create a better workplace where a more healthy and balanced workstyle is followed.
At Solh Wellness, we understand the mental health challenges that employees face at their workplace. That’s why our Employee Wellness Program (EWP) is designed to address such challenges. By prioritizing employee mental health and well-being, EWP aims to assist organizations in creating supportive and thriving work environments.
Understanding Workplace Stress in MNCs
Given the widespread prevalence of workplace stress among MNC employees, most stress cases occur due to disequilibrium between their work demands and their ability to cope with them. Chronic stress severely affects workers psychologically, emotionally, and physically. This was the case for Anna.
Many MNCs thus become a poisonous environment due to the pressure to achieve tight deadlines, manage heavy workloads and maintain a pattern of outperformance. This leads employees, especially young professionals, to become excessively overburdened and unable to cope. The excessive burden blurs the crucial and healthy boundary between one’s personal and workplace life. This makes it challenging for individuals to disconnect and recover from workplace stress.
From a psychological view, work-related stress proliferates mental condition problems such as anxiety and depression or burnout. Physiologically also, symptoms such as Anna's chest pain likely indicated how her body had been pushed to limits due to the immense workload. Unless intervention or prevention occurs, this chronic stress opens doors to the very types of catastrophes we read about too frequently in corporations with significant amounts of pressure on those in employment.
Therefore, companies must get to the root cause of workplace stress and invest in employee wellness initiatives, such as Solh Wellness's Employee Wellness Program (EWP), which puts mental health at the forefront.
Company Culture Plays a Balancing Role to Either Induce or Prevent Burnout
Company culture plays a crucial role in either preventing and/ or fueling burnout. Corporate culture in many MNCs focuses on output rather than the well-being of employees. Employees are often driven by working overtime, meeting unrealistic deadlines, and sacrificing their personal time for professional success. Anna's case was no exception; it was the persistent focus on workplace performance that took a severe toll on her health.
Hustle culture, which has become a norm, can have serious consequences for mental health. Employees are driven to see long hours and heavy workloads as normal. This normalized perception of overwork is harmful and suggests that heavy workloads are typical and rather expected.
Such perceptions are not supported by mental health companies that stress on importance of employee mental well-being. They show care for the well-being of the employees, flexibility, and, most importantly, an environment where work-life balance is considered more important. Companies that care have mental health tools for workers and encourage open communication over unrealistic workloads.
Managers and leaders then have the duty of creating such an environment. They must know when the staff gets stressed and take advanced measures to reduce stress. At this point, solutions such as Solh Wellness's Employee Wellness Program (EWP) are very important. Using workshops, counseling, and wellness tools for a balanced life, Solh EWP enables leaders to offer healthier workplaces.
Here, Solh Wellness's Employee-Centric Approach finds direct relevance because this focus on employee needs was missing from the package offered by the former learning center. The program guides leadership training on how best to support the teams they manage and provides real-time data regarding the wellness of the employees to support informed decision-making. That is the proactive support companies must provide to prevent burnout so that cases like Anna’s do not occur again.
Psychological Impact of Workplace Stress: Signs to Watch Out For
Work stress does not only affect how well a job is performed, but it also hugely impacts mental and health-related outcomes. In the case of Anna, stress manifestation came with both physical signs like chest pain and emotional exhaustion. Sadly, these warning signals were not detected until it was too late for intervention.
Chronic stress leads to anxiety, depression, insomnia, and burnout. Emotionally, people will start experiencing irritability, constant tiredness, and a lack of interest in personal activities. Physically, stress and tension may result in headaches, digestive issues, and cardiovascular problems, which can significantly harm overall well-being.
Both employees and managers should identify such warning signs. Whenever an employee feels overwhelmed or exhausted or changes his/her physical health, it is advisable to find help. Mental health counselors, wellness programs, and workplace support systems are very important in helping employees handle stress at the workplace.
Programs, such as EWP by Solh Wellness, are available at all hours to provide mental health services that can offer counseling support when needed. A comprehensive wellness plan, with regular wellness checks and mental health screenings, can help prevent stress from becoming the increasing crisis that is Solh. Solh Wellness’ anonymous support where employees can seek help without hesitation.
How MNCs Can Improve Workplace Wellness
MNCs must create psychologically healthy work environments whereby employees are supported in their efforts to manage stress and balance work and personal life. There are various steps that an organization can take to deal with the issue of stress and well-being at work:
1. Establishing appropriate boundaries between work and personal time: for instance, boundaries over what is or isn't allowed on one's time off might be created by forbidding emails and calls off-hours or on the weekend-end.
2. Mental health professionals: Access to mental health professionals, stress management workshops, and regular mental health checks should also be provided. Solh Wellness provides integrated mental health resources through EWP, combining a series of workshops, screenings, and app-based tools to help employees throughout their lives.
3. Manageable workloads: The employer should ensure that the workloads are manageable and not allow overburdening employees. This ranges from fair task distribution to giving support during high-pressure periods.
4. Communication: An employee should be allowed to express his feelings when handling overwhelming situations. Issues can be dealt with only through an open communication culture at work before they mushroom into full-blown problems.
The EWP of Solh Wellness takes this further by presenting an integrated dashboard with real-time wellness data and actionable insights. This provides HR and management teams with the basis to make informed decisions about employee well-being and, if necessary, adjust their workloads or support systems.
Solh Wellness also provides leadership training, enabling management to identify signals of burnout among members and promote a collaborative and supportive working environment. Preventing stress-related issues and ensuring that employees are equipped with everything they need to do the job without compromising their mental health are critical.
Using these techniques and collaborating with Solh Wellness, MNCs can effectively generate a culture concerning mental health, leading to a more resilient and productive workforce.
Expert Tips on Managing Work-Life Balance
Work-life balance is essential for employees who work under heavy pressure at the workplace to preserve their mental and physical health. Here are some expert tips for setting up a more healthy work-life balance:
However, appropriate work-life balance should be cherished according to the individual needs of the workers in that organization.
1. Set work hours: Determine your work hours and stick to them. Do not open work emails or professional work outside those hours; make it known to your team.
2. Time management approach: Multiple work activities should be prioritized according to their priority and the degree of urgency. Divide your day into various parts and take at least breaks at regular intervals so you may not get on your nerves. Employees can even adopt an application like Solh's Employee Wellness Program (EWP) to monitor their stress levels and remind them to take a break.
3. Self-care activities: Schedule time for things that keep your mind healthy. Exercise, meditation, or spending time with loved ones can all help you relax and recharge your energies.
4. Leaning to decline requests: We need to recognize overload situations and communicate them to the manager. There is nothing wrong with declining add-on requests when the workload gets too heavy.
Solh Wellness's EWP also offers resources for time management and stress relief besides wellness check-ins, so employees might maintain a better work-life balance. In addition to managing stress, these tools promote job satisfaction and productivity at work.
WHAT MORE
Undeniable the tips presented above do serve a purpose but yes there is more to it. Taking example from EY they have an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) which was launched for EY people in Malaysia in October 2018. It is a program that helps people obtain professional help from certified counsellors and mental health professionals.
All the sessions conducted via EAP are carried out confidentially and everyone in EY is given free access to initiate the service when needed. The sessions are 100% confidential and the EAP team can either be contacted via a toll-free line from Monday to Friday (9 a.m. to 9 p.m.), or by email.(as stated by EY in a blog posted on 01 Aug 2021.)
Right here the question arises why do such programs fail to function? And a very simple answer to this is that if we look at mental health and everything that is around it counseling is just one part of the solution and as a psychologist I can say it requires insight and acceptance to say ‘yes! I have a problem and I need professional help’. Before diving into the program, it's essential to equip employees with self-help tools that foster personal growth and peace.
This approach helps build trust on their journey to achieving work-life balance. Concerns about anonymity can often deter individuals from taking the first step or engaging with a program, as worries about privacy can be a significant barrier. When someone seeks support from a psychologist for counseling or therapy, the fear of compromising anonymity can feel like a major roadblock.
To address this, Solh offers a range of self-help tools that individuals can use at their convenience. This not only provides a safety net but also creates a much-needed comfort zone, making the path to recovery more accessible and less intimidating.
Solh Wellness: Pacing the Way in Employee Wellness
Every employee deserves a supportive and mentally healthy work environment. Our Employee Wellness Program (EWP) is a comprehensive, holistic solution aimed at improving employees' mental health and organizational productivity. Unlike most EAPs, which are too corporate-focused, Solh's EWP prioritizes employees' mental health.
Here's how the Solh Employee Wellness Program can change the face of your workplace:
- Holistic Support: Our package encompasses workshops, mental health screenings, app support, leadership training, and one-to-one counseling in a nurturing and nourishing context for your employees.
Integration Dashboard: Obtain deep data on employee wellness in real-time, with insights that can guide you in assessing the progress of your efforts to improve your employees' mental well-being.
Employee-centered: Our EWP is specifically designed to meet the needs of your workforce, equipping them with every tool possible for success, both personally and professionally.
- Mental health services available 24 hours a day: Employees can get support through mental health counselors at any time, keeping support available at all times for those who need it.
The "Employee Wellness Program" is the best strategy for creating a healthier, more resilient workforce at Solh Wellness. Tools and resources enable your employees to develop healthy ways of dealing with stress and building mental resilience at work.
Contact us today for free 30-day pilots in our EWP. Let's create an environment where employees thrive without sacrificing their mental health at work.
Conclusion: A Call to Action for Organizations
The demise of Anna Sebastian Perayil is tragic and serves to trigger the mind to recall the serious risks of stress at work. The case really goes on to highlight the imperative importance of having organizations take mental health seriously and develop work environments that protect and support their employees.
MNCs need to instill a strong culture that respects work-life balance and well-being.
Solh Wellness's Employee Wellness Program is a critical step in this journey. Companies would not only be saving themselves from the negative implications of stress but also actively engaging in curbing the risk of burnout, training employees for harder resilience, and developing healthier workforces.
Let's take mental health to work and ensure we don't lose any more lives to workplace overpressure. Visit Solh Wellness today to learn more about our Employee Wellness Program, which can transform your organization.
Together, let's build a workplace where employees bloom and don't just survive.
