Mental health, finding balance and looking after employees

If you’re a regular reader of our blog, you may have seen our recent posts where we spoke to Partner and Founder Keith Grinsted. He spoke to us about what it’s like starting your own business at 72, why it’s never too late to pursue a new path and how to launch a website on a limited budget. If you haven’t read these before, we recommend checking them out.

Keith has lots of great insights from his vast experience in various industries, so we were very excited to chat to him again. This time, the topic of discussion was mental health in the workplace.

We’d like to begin this post by saying that we will be covering topics such as suicide, job loss and depression, so if you find any of these topics triggering then it might be best to skip this.

Goodbye Lonely

At 72, Keith has experienced just about everything life could throw at him, including job loss, divorce and mental illness, even coming close to suicide. But none of this has stopped him from pursuing a career and following his passions. One of his more recent ventures, Goodbye Lonely, started in lockdown in 2020. He used his own experiences and feelings of loneliness to launch an online community, with the aim of providing a non-judgmental ear to those who felt like they had no one to talk to.

“I’ve always been fairly open to people about my mental health challenges and found that a lot of people came to me because I was open about the fact that I’d come close to suicide back in 2016,” Keith shared. “When Covid hit I was working for Nespresso in a John Lewis store and was put on furlough. The company set up various Zoom calls and I suggested we start a Wellbeing Wednesday… We also had Fun Friday where we could do online quizzes as well. In actual fact, when we went back after Covid, we all missed it.”

Keith became a wellbeing champion for his fellow colleagues, hosting Zoom calls and listening to their struggles with loneliness, relationships and dealing with the pandemic.

Following the success of his efforts at Nespresso, Keith was interviewed by the BBC several times about his experiences dealing with mental health in the workplace, as well as his own personal dealings. He was also invited to a Zoom call with the late Captain Tom Moore, talking about loneliness and the fundraiser that had just taken place.

Keith shared his thoughts and experiences online, which he found caught the attention of many who were going through similar situations.

“On New Year’s Eve that year I thought I needed to do something about this. So I set up a Facebook group called Goodbye Lonely.”

Goodbye Lonely quickly gained traction and now has between 300-350 members.

“It goes up and down. People join when they’re feeling lonely, then when they get new relationships or move on in their life they leave the group… The idea is that it provides a non-judgmental shoulder to cry on. I don’t judge people, I just listen. And more often than not, that’s what people want – someone to listen.”

In 2021, Keith ran Zoom calls every single day over Christmas, including Christmas Day. Over the Christmas period, the amount of people suffering with depression dramatically increases. Whether this is money worries, caring for dependents or mourning those who are no longer here, it can be a difficult time for many. A support group like Goodbye Lonely provides an outlet for those people who are struggling.

“I’m also a mental health first-aider and now have a small WhatsApp group going. We just touch base - how are you, how’s your weekend going, that type of thing. It’s mainly just to provide that support for people.”

Hybrid working and mental health

When companies returned to work after the pandemic, many operated on a hybrid working policy. Employees had gotten used to working from their sofas or creating their own office space in their homes. In 2022, NHS Wales carried out a study which found that between 2020-2021 48.1% of adults reported increased feelings of loneliness and that working from home worsened their mental wellbeing. Of course Covid had a huge impact on this, but now, 5 years on, many businesses still follow this style of working and many people still feel the same effects today.

We asked Keith what he thought of this change and the effect it’s had on mental health in the workplace.

“Pre-Covid I don’t think many companies even thought of mental health as high on the agenda. If you have problems you don’t necessarily want to go talk to your boss or your colleagues because they might share it, and you don’t know who you can trust. This is why wellbeing champions should be introduced.”

When the UK went into lockdown, it was a huge adjustment for both businesses and their employees, having to find a new way to work but in their own homes. Keith shared his thoughts on this.

“Post-Covid a lot of people suddenly found themselves working from home, not sure how to manage that time because they lost their daily routine. It was just a continuous 24-hour clock without any set deadlines, which becomes difficult when people are trying to manage their time.”

Not only was this adjustment difficult in terms of self-motivation and time management, but because employees were always at home, switching off from the office became harder to do.

Disconnecting from the office

And now, 5 years on, this is still a struggle for some employees.

“All of a sudden you’re working from your kitchen table if you don’t have that designated space where you can cut yourself off… And chatting to people on Zoom, I can just see your head and shoulders but you might be sitting there with your pajamas on,” Keith said.

When work and home merge, where does the divide happen? Covid caused such a shift in working patterns, that this is bound to have an effect on mental health. Not being able to switch off and leave the office at the end of the day, and instead standing up from your kitchen table isn’t enough of a break from work.

“Suddenly having their staff working from home, employers had no idea how to manage this. Managers had never had any training on how to deal with remote staff. Before a manager would come in and see his 20 employees arrive, see what their demeanor is, their facial expressions. He can see whether they’re in a good mood or a bad mood, their interactions during the day. He bumps into them in the corridor, and has meetings with them. Then all of a sudden they’re not there. He only sees them when he has a Zoom meeting with them. We can all put a facade on for a half hour meeting.”

Since then, we’ve all adjusted and gotten into a routine of working from home, but for some this is still a challenge. And with companies slowly increasing the amount of days employees should spend in the office, we are yet again adjusting to another new way of working.

Keith shared his advice for employees still struggling to switch off after a day working from home.

“I found a lot of people were saying that they were working for far longer hours because they just couldn’t stop… Unfortunately things like WhatsApp make it more difficult because people feel they can contact any time of day or night. But you’ve got to be strict on your timings. Make sure you get set breaks in place.”

“You’re not supposed to be working at a computer screen for more than 20 minutes at a time without a break. We forget that when we’re at home.”

In fact, studies show that there is a distinct correlation between excessive screen time and increased levels of depression, anxiety and other mood disorders. Taking regular breaks and switching off from screens for that time is vital to maintaining a healthy brain and body.

Keith said: “You’ve got to use that time and walk away. Get some fresh air, go for a walk. Just get out, be active and do something different.”

How businesses can support their employees

So we’ve covered how employees are affected in the workplace, and what you can do as an employee to help improve your working environment. But what if you’re a business owner or manager? How can you support your employees and colleagues if they’re going through a hard time? Keith had some thoughts.

“I think companies need to really get to know their employees. They need to understand them, and have some empathy. You may be a business owner, but you’re a human being, just the same as everyone else. You’ve got families. You’ve got pressures and financial problems. That’s the same for every person working for you.”

“Put yourself in other people’s shoes, understand them and try to put things in place to support them. There’s lots of free resources online, and you can have mental health first-aiders as well.”

If you’d like to learn more about how you can support your employees, or if you’re struggling and need some help, we’ve listed below a few resources where you can find support:

Shout – text SHOUT to 85258 (24/7 text service)
Samaritans – Call 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org (available 24/7)
Mind – resources for businesses looking to support their employees mental wellbeing
BupaUK – further support and resources for business owners
SANEline – Call 0300 304 7000 (4.30pm-10pm daily)
Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) – Call 0800 58 58 58 (5pm-midnight daily)
Switchboard (LGBT+) – Call 0300 330 0630 (10am-10pm daily), email chris@switchboard.lgbt, or message on webchat

A final thought

We asked Keith for any final thoughts he’d like to leave you with. He said this:

“We're all having to deal with new things, technology, AI, everything else. But we're still human beings. We still live. We still have families. We still get ill. No matter what else goes on, we still all have the same pressures on us as we did 10 years ago. It's just that everything moves quicker. But remember the good times, and remember we’re all human.”