This is a repost of my original blog post in Leapto's blog.
Mental health related workplace issues are causing an increase in employee absences. According to estimates already one third of all the medical absences in countries like Finland are caused by mental health issues.[1] Even though the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated and worsened this trend, it is safe to say that the issue of mental health in the workplace is not going anywhere. Increased pressure and unorganized work are causing more and more harmful stress on an increasing number of individuals. This stress can then manifest in serious mental health problems.
When we started thinking about the problem of mental health in organizations, we saw that there are a lot of tools, which enable organizations to measure how the people in those organizations are feeling. We also saw that there are many tools that help individuals in those organizations cope with mental health issues. Most of those tools do not tell the organization what needs to be done to solve the issues. We validated this point with many organizations, and nearly all of them agreed on the need for clearer steps to solve this issue. From our experience, as founders, executives, and psychologists, we think that how the work in the organization is structured matters for everyone’s overall mental wellbeing. Addressing mental health is a recent challenge for businesses and organizations need to learn what to do. We want to help with that.
At the same time, more and more software is moving to the so-called bottom-up model, where individual teams can take on the software tool they need for their purposes. Yet, most software aiming to help organizations with mental wellbeing challenges still works in a top-down way. This approach is problematic because each team is different in the way they work. Each team also has their unique issues when it comes to organizing the work and making sure as little stress as possible comes from that work to the team members. We believe that our approach will make sure the teams can change their working habits, which will then produce better working environment for everyone in the team.
For our product, we have analyzed the most common situations and suitable solutions for them, based on best workplace psychology practices or our own experiences. Our approach is structured to be integrated into the team weekly meeting. When teams use our product, as part of their weekly meeting, they can complete tasks within their chosen development area. This way, they can move constantly towards a better workplace experience, while still spending most of their time on actual work.
Our approach has been refined with early users and customers, who have given us invaluable feedback for which we are extremely thankful. With each new team contributing to our community, we can help other teams better. We hope that you will join us on this journey of making workplaces better for everyone.
Here's to a better work life.
Markku
PS. Check out Leapto here.
[1] The Social Insurance Institution of Finland, 27.2.2022. Available at: https://tutkimusblogi.kela.fi/arkisto/5764.