BY Louron Pratt ON APRIL 18, 2022

In the UK alone, one in four people experience mental health issues ranging from mild to severe. In addition, 60% of employees in the UK have experienced mental health problems due to work-related issues in the past year. How can product leaders develop a positive mental health culture to ensure that their teams are supported and performing at their best?

Key points:

• Creating cultures in which people can thrive (and which attract the best talent) means teams being healthy and happy.
• Like a great product, product leaders need to recognise their teams are made up of unique persona’s, each with their own motivations, needs and ambitions. Supporting these diverse wellbeing needs means taking a long-term, holistic approach.
• Proactive preventative interventions and signposting are key ways to create a healthy working environment.

What a healthy working environment looks like

A healthy working environment has several key factors to it, Nick believes—treating product people like humans in a digital world sits at the forefront of developing this culture. “The pandemic has helped us see the humanity in people, but with an increase of engagement through video calls, it can feel robotic at times.” he says. Remembering that there is another human on the other side of the call is a good place to start.

Rolemodeling and and creating a safe space for people to speak out about their issues go hand-in-hand. “Employees need to see product leaders being open and honest about their mental health. Over time, they can showcase that it’s safe to do so without impacting their careers.” he says. With this safe space, product leaders can also celebrate individuality and diversity. Doing so can once again encourage teams to be open about their feelings at work.

Organisations need to train line managers so they are prepared to do the above, Nick believes. This means that they will be better equipped to address mental health and know what benefits to offer in the workplace. A healthy workplace isn’t one that tries to act like a medical profession, it’s a place that is able to signpost efficiently and offer the right benefits to offer help.

Why existing ways of supporting employees’ mental health are no longer enough

Supporting mental health can no longer be a ‘tick-box’ excercise, Nick explains. There are several wellbeing strategies used by organisations which fail to engage people. “It’s important to recognise that being a product manager is quite an intense role. There is a balance to be had between the value creation but also recognising that the pace at which you great create great digital products has to be manageable for people.”

So what does that mean in practice? It means asking questions like:

• Are your product teams properly resourced?
• Are you putting too much pressure on to individuals?
• How does your product prioritisation process work?
• How well does your product team work together internally and externally?

While it’s important for leaders to offer a company-wdie employee assistance program, it’s crucial as product leaders to find the answers to these questions to support specific teams further as one size doesn’t fit all.

“Like all great products, product leaders need to recognise their teams are made up of unique persona’s, each with their own motivations, needs and ambitions.” Nick adds. Supporting these diverse wellbeing needs means taking a long-term, personalised approach.

Product leaders can be proactive and engage with HR specialists to find out more about developing a positive mental health culutre for their teams, Nick believes. Create a space for these easy conversations to occur. It can develop crucial connections further down the line to support those who need it the most.

Practical steps you can take to implement on-demand mental health support for teams

The pandemic has changed the ways that people work. Back-to-back Zoom calls and working in isolation for months has and will continue to impact the daily working lives of those working in product teams. Offering benefits such as wellness programs and flexible hours can be incredibly useful, however Nick offers a practical checklist to implement on-demand mental health support:

• Think about it like you would a product: start small, fail fast and take a now/next/later approach
• Engage and align with their wellbeing/HR colleagues (where those exist)
• Have clear HR policies and procedures in place, with adequate signposting and support
• Train individuals and line managers to be more confident talking about mental health
• Have a positive leadership role modelling to create psychological safety
• Make mental health part of the conversation every day. Don’t only talk about it on world mental health day (checking in with teams, listening and seeking to understand)
• Inspire and educate individuals to take responsibility for their own wellbeing
• Use wellbeing champions or MHFA to form part of your overall strategy
• Consider if technology-enabled solutions complement the other components of your strategy

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this two-part series. We’ll be discussing taking care of your own mental health and why it’s just as important.