NOM-35: The greater the mental health, the greater the performance
Many of us as members of a company, have medical insurances that cover us if we get a broken leg, if we get sick with the flu, and even some of us have dental insurance. But few, almost none, are the companies that cover the staff’s mental health.
The truth is that, until the beginning of this decade that is about to end, talking about mental illnesses was socially unacceptable. We could qualify our bosses as crazy, our assistants as bipolar, or one member of the staff as hyperactive, but we did not understand that those words are not adjectives, but serious mental conditions that reduce the productivity of the members of an institution.
A few weeks ago, the Official Mexican Standard NOM-35-STPS-2016, regarding psychosocial risk factors in the workplace has been launched. But, what does this mean for the staff members? And more importantly, what does it mean for the company?
First, to understand this Standard, we must define two terms: psychosocial factors and psychosocial risk factors.
Psychosocial factors, are interactions between the worker, his environment, job satisfaction and the conditions of his organization. It also has to do with the worker’s abilities, needs, culture and personal situation outside his job that can influence health, performance and satisfaction (ILO, 1984).
When the organizational psychosocial factors are dysfunctional, inappropriate responses appear, tensión and psychophysiological stress responses, which are likely to adversely affect the health and well-being of the worker (Benavides et al. 2002).
Many companies consider the norm to be unacceptable, and they think it “consents” the employee's lack of interest. But, what is true, is that what the NOM-35 is looking for is that the team members work in a healthier environment, and therefore have a better performance, which will be reflected in greater productivity for the company.
In a nutshell, the Standard DOES NOT seek to send all staff to the psychologist (although, in my opinion, we should all visit him at least once a year to get a mental check up, which would save us a lot of money in doctors, because would attend the true root of the problem), what it seeks is to generate the optimal conditions to ensure the well-being of the staff.
This means that the NOM-35 seeks to ensure good working conditions, balanced workloads, avoid lack of training and toxic relationships. How can companies take care othese aspects? The HR department will have to evaluate the current context and, if necessary, develop strategies to achive change. In addition, it is always important to establish prevention policies to avoid risk factors.
If you want to know more about our prevention policies and strategies to reduce this factors, you can contact our HR department at recursoshumanos@alvear.com.mx, who will gladly give you further information and can train you on the subject.
Yazmín Almanza
Gerente de Recursos Humanos A&A
Raziel Alvear
Área de Desarrollo Humano A&A