Business mentor: Absolutely nothing day coming soon

I've been told it's important that staff take their breaks at work, but it seems to me that it's just downtime. What are the benefits of staff breaks?

Dr Alison Taylor, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation, replies:

Downtime is actually a cost-effective investment for your business.

We all take micropauses during the day to give our eyes and bodies a break from the computer, or our backs a break from the heavy lifting.

These days it is our minds that do the heavy lifting and we need to provide breaks for our minds to maintain optimum health.

A good example of the restorative effect of a decent break was observed half a century ago during World War II by American Navy flight training school instructors.

They found that when their students reached a plateau in their skill level, the best way to kickstart improvement was to give the young pilots a total break from their exhausting training schedule to participate in a fun event.

This is an important lesson for those businesses that are results-oriented and need to maintain a competitive edge.

Providing a healthy and enjoyable place to work and ensuring staff take appropriate breaks delivers a myriad of benefits for businesses.

These include increased productivity and efficiency, reduced absenteeism and staff turnover, and better teamwork and leadership.

In terms of leadership, employers should be role models and show through their actions how important it is for people to balance stress in the workplace.

Initiatives to improve mental health at work deliver messages of concern and respect that are likely to be repaid in kind.

Encouraging breaks is an excellent start. Other strategies could include providing good physical conditions, better communications, clear job descriptions and contracts, comprehensive OSH policies and valuing diversity, to name but a few!

The most common serious mental health problem, depression, is today's main source of worker disability.

We have become used to addressing physical health needs in the workplace, and now we need to promote mental health.

Giving your mind a break during the working day is an important part of a comprehensive range of health-promoting workplace strategies that provide benefits for employers and employees alike.

As part of its Working Well Programme to promote mental health at work in New Zealand, the Mental Health Foundation is promoting Absolutely Nothing Day next Friday to remind New Zealanders to take 15 minutes out of their day to relax or have fun, to give their minds a break.

Ideas for Absolutely Nothing Day include: old-fashioned tea parties, team games, more athletic activities (have you found your local assault course?), theme days - with food provided, of course!

Or how about hiring a massage therapist for neck and shoulder massages during the tea break or even planning a visit to the local kindergarten or old folks home to share break time with others?

For ideas and resources, visit our website: www.absolutelynothing.co.nz. For other resources, see the Mental Health Foundation's Working Well site: www.workingwell.co.nz

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