Mental health is in the spotlight at the moment but it’s not just about clients. There are any ways in which employers can look out for themselves and their staff, discovers GEORGIA SEAGO

GEORGIA SEAGO

Mental health charity Mind estimates that one in four people in the UK will experience a mental health problem each year, while in England one in six report experiencing a common mental health problem each week. Society is waking up to the fact that mental illness can affect anyone. Given that for most of us work takes up the biggest part of our lives and has a huge impact on our wellbeing, the spotlight is on employers to do everything within their power to keep staff mentally healthy.

“If our industry is unable to care for its staff then it doesn’t bode well for other less therapeutic industries,” comments Paul Gerrard, head of marketing and brand communications at Jessica distributor Gerrard International. He says that at the start of his career as a young advertising creative, “I didn’t realise that caring for staff was a responsibility of management and employers.” This played a part in his own mental health struggles and ultimately led him to become a strong advocate for mental wellbeing in the workplace.

“Having had a mainly closeted yet lifelong relationship with depression, I am a strong believer that prevention is far more powerful than cure,” says Gerrard.

Setting standards

As a salon or spa owner, creating a healthy working environment is an important step to taking a more active role in staff wellbeing. “There’s a definite need to reach out to beauty business owners to really make sure they have enough understanding about how to make sure their workplace is healthy,” says Glenis Wade, a workplace wellbeing consultant and senior business lecturer.

Wade works on the City of London’s Healthy Workplace Charter and is currently involved in developing the Mayor of London’s Good Work Standard. “There’s a lot of interest from the Government in businesses that employ lower paid workers – including salon and spa therapists and nail technicians – to get on board with corporate wellbeing,” she says. “Often it’s the public service workers who get the help rather than people who are at the coal face.”

Wade believes that it’s labour-intensive roles such as beauty therapy that need the most employer support when it comes to physical and mental wellbeing, and while many salons and spas have procedures in place to prevent therapists developing conditions like RSI, mental and emotional issues are equally important and potentially more damaging. “We need to get employers in the industry to understand that there’s a responsibility to take care of employees’ physical and mental health; burning out physically is linked to mental health, they don’t operate in isolation,” she adds.

The impact of therapists’ wellbeing can affect everything from client engagement to professional performance

Emotional investment

This connection is central to massage therapist and healer Beata Aleksandrowicz’s philosophy and is key in her Pure Spa Massage Spa Training Method. “The impact of therapists’ wellbeing can affect everything from client engagement to professional performance. Therapists feel both empathy and sympathy strongly, and while it’s their strongest asset it can also totally exhaust them,” she says.

Aleksandrowicz believes the key to supporting therapists mentally and emotionally is to invest the time to really understand each individual. “Managers need to be fully aware of the complexity of their therapists’ characters. Each will have a purpose behind why they came in to this industry, and it’s fundamental that managers tap into this and take it as the base of a therapist’s performance,” she says.

Aleksandrowicz acknowledges that prioritising emotional wellness might not come naturally to salon and spa owners used to focusing on the more tangible aspects of running a business: “Caring for the emotional wellness of therapists is not an easy process. The whole system of the operation of spas and salons doesn’t help at all, with a schedule based on maximum occupancy with little time for breaks or connecting with and relating to clients.”

Wade says that another hurdle can come in the form of the huge pressures on therapists to retail product: “Demand for training is around how to get therapists to sell more, so we have to find new ways for them to make connections with clients. We need to be a bit more innovative; there’s a lot of work to be done in this area,” she says.

Lead by example

Despite the reality of financial pressures, there are still a lot of measures that can be implemented to safeguard employees’ health, and the first step is to adopt an open and supportive attitude, says Gerrard. “Developing a culture to nurture employee-employer relationships is extremely important to me. Part of this is having clear, well-publicised channels in place for employees to raise concerns so that positive actions can be promptly taken when they seek help,” he says.

On a managerial level, Gerrard recommends regularly asking staff for feedback on how the workplace could be improved, and taking action based on their ideas. Aleksandrowicz recommends that directors or managers introduce weekly explorations with staff on topics such as depression, panic attacks, nutrition and the importance of movement. “Therapists need to be healthy and to know how to recharge themselves. They need to stretch and breathe every day and have good physical, emotional and mental hygiene,” she adds.

Other initiatives that cost nothing include implementing a 10-minute mindfulness and breathing session with therapists at the start of their day and in between appointments, and encouraging them to regularly use their down time or breaks at work for resting and nothing else.

Coping mechanisms

Work-life balance is key for Stephanie Staunton, session nail technician and founder of campaign Nailing Mental Health, who suffers from bi-polar disorder. “I’ve called in sick to a shoot before. It’s about knowing your boundaries and what you can and can’t cope with. People are too scared to put themselves first and take time off; I think that’s the biggest challenge we have with this in our industry,” she says.

From Staunton’s point of view, the best message an employer can give to staff isn’t “keep going and power through”, but “if you need the time, take it”. She says: “Initially I ploughed through my mental illness, but I was virtually fired from a job because I got to the stage where I was so unhappy and unwell that I couldn’t function at work. You have to manage your expectations of yourself.”

However, as a self-employed tech, Staunton has also experienced the insecurity of not earning any money while she was unable to work for 15 weeks after a suicide attempt. “I nearly went bankrupt but I’m classed as a vulnerable adult so I did get some benefit support. If you’re sick there are temporary benefits you can apply for even if you’re self-employed,” she explains. “I tapped into that and it’s the best thing I did because I couldn’t have got through without it. I had sick pay from the state and had part of my rent paid, and without that I wouldn’t have had food.”

Self-employed workers can’t claim statutory sick pay, so employment law and practice consultant David Wright advises those who are unable to work to contact their local Citizen’s Advice Bureau and ask about eligibility for

Employment Support Allowance. “In reality there is very little support available for the self-employed – being unfit for work for any reason is tough,” he says. “However, you might be able to get some benefits to top up or replace your earnings from self-employment.” These include Employment Support Allowance, Working Tax Credit and Personal Independence Payment. There’s also Housing Benefit, support with mortgage interest, Council Tax Support, Child Tax Credit, and Pension Credit for those in the right age bracket.

Staunton now has tools in place to help her cope with her mental health at work, and encourages anyone suffering to try to adopt similar coping mechanisms. “Find the tools that make you feel safe and comfortable; I have an adult colouring book in case I get bored or feel restless when I’m on a shoot, and breathing techniques really help too. If you’re mobile or freelance, keep your kit as packed and organised as you can – it really helps to reduce pressure and anxiety,” she says.

Gerrard is also an advocate of personal mental fitness tips and tools: “Employers should explore with the individual any specific needs and be as creative as possible when thinking about how to address these issues,” he says. “To genuinely promote wellbeing to our customers we need to ensure we’re living it ourselves, and one of the most obvious ways to do this is by making the same services available to employees. This will only add to the culture that salon and spa owners want clients to experience.”

Seeking out help

Initiatives like these are focused on prevention; an employee in the throes of mental illness won’t be “cured” by massage or deep breathing. So, it’s equally important for employers and teammates to be able to spot the signs that an employee could be going through a difficult time.

“It doesn’t take a doctor to recognise an individual who is becoming susceptible to negative mental behaviour,” says Gerrard. “It just takes you to know that individual and what normal behaviour for them looks like.” Problems with punctuality, a negative attitude, changes in work output, panic attacks and becoming indecisive and less sociable and can all be behaviours indicative of a more serious problem.

Understandably, many people feel ill-equipped to help an employee dealing with mental illness, aside from trying to create an inclusive and relaxed working environment. Wade strongly recommends salon and spa owners undertake Mental Health First Aid training, run in half-day and two-day durations by Mental Health First Aid England.

“There’s a big Government push to have mental health first aid viewed as equally important as physical first aid,” she says. “On the course, you learn how to make someone who is exhibiting signs of mental distress feel comfortable. It’s not about you doing the psychology or counselling; instead you learn the words or phrases to use to help someone move on and get the help they need,” explains Wade.

”It doesn’t take a doctor to recognise an individual who is becoming susceptible to negative mental behaviour. It just takes you to know that individual and what normal behaviour for them looks like

Students come away with an expansive book on every mental health disorder, and Wade says that during the course attendees are put through exercises to understand what it feels like to have one of the more serious disorders. “It gets you to sympathise and empathise; it’s fantastic for removing the stigma around mental health issues, but also for feeling empowered so you know what to do if a client or colleague isn’t well,” she says.

Taking staff through awareness training can encourage humility as well as acting as effective team building. “It makes you more aware that we could all be affected by something like this, so you’re more empowered to empathise with colleagues and clients,” adds Wade.

Encouraging people to seek help is exactly what Staunton’s organisation Nailing Mental Health is about. “The key is talking. People tend to shut off and say they’re alright when they’re not,” says Staunton. “Nailing Mental Health is about making people aware that they can say that they’re struggling, and not be ashamed about that.”

As an employer, she says it all comes down to empathy and care, a sentiment echoed by Aleksandrowicz: “We have to act as a boss, be confident and guide. But if you do this with passion and commitment and maintain it as an ongoing practice, you’ll benefit with a more engaged, passionate and revitalised team.” PB