Bill Merck is a veteran, leadership expert and author who shares tips and advice on improving mental health in the workplace for both employers and employees on this episode of the Security Clearance Careers Podcast.
He discusses how to use your previous experiences through childhood to enhance career development and mental health.
Mental health in the workplace goes beyond a stressful day at the office – it can relate all the way back to childhood experiences. Our childhood and previous experiences through working life as a young adult and beyond can affect both our career and personal development.
Many agencies have aimed to make mental health a destigmatized topic within the security clearance process and at work, as well. Merck shares tips for workplace leaders on taking mental health seriously and how they may show that to their employees and prospective candidates that it is a priority. He also discusses how to improve morale in the workplace, and just as important, the consequences for employees and employers if you don’t.
How to Kill Your Employees Morale and Create Burnout
A few sure ways that that leaders can kill morale, create a toxic workplace and more burnout, is by micromanaging employees, taking credit for others work, and expecting consensus within a working group. How can you bolster morale? Allow failure – or create a work environment where admitting to failure is ok, recognize achievements in a public forum, and be a consistent / predictable leader.
For some officers leaving the military, the transition to civilian life requires a shift in expectations. Understanding that everyone in the civilian workplace has different experiences and continuing to listen effectively can help you better manage the transition successfully.
Merck notes that “How you see your life is complex and can rarely be expressed in an answer that fits on a bumper sticker. Instead, a longer answer is required, one that has roots in early experiences that influenced the development of your character and has shaped your views.”
