When employees of small businesses have mental health problems

Burn-out, exhaustion or excessive demands are often used buzzwords in today's performance-oriented society. In the meantime, a great deal of information, recommendations and basic principles for prevention and occupational health management are available. In small companies, however, resources are often limited, which makes it difficult or even impossible to implement the measures. In 2015, the Artisana association launched a practice-oriented research project with the study "What's wrong with Max Muster?" written by the University of Bern and the BASS office, in which the handling of mentally ill employees in small companies was examined. The most important results of the project are now presented in a video trailer.

Max Muster becomes Youtube star

Every second person suffers from a mental illness at least once in their adult life. The reasons for this are complex. It can affect anyone and everyone, regardless of occupation and position. In Artisana's new video trailer, the consequences of mental health problems in the workplace are illustrated using three impressive examples. The viewer sees Max Muster suffer, learns what is going on in his head. What his supervisor thinks of the situation also comes up clearly. While things like physical ailments, pain, depression, divorce or financial difficulties make life hell for the employee and make normal work impossible, the supervisor wonders about the sudden changes in his employee. It quickly becomes clear: action is needed here. In the case of all three protagonists, the story has a different outcome because each supervisor dealt with the situation differently. Whether construction, industry or gastronomy: the examples show that the issue affects every industry.

Small businesses at an advantage: close, flexible and versatile

With the video, Artisana wants to raise awareness for the important topic and draw attention to the possibilities and opportunities for small businesses. The three case studies in the trailer are based on real-life situations. They show that stress, mental strain and problems are everywhere, even in industries where they are still rarely talked about. It is important that company managers respond to such incidents. The examples also show that small companies do have advantages when it comes to dealing with their employees' problems: They are close to their employees, flexible and can react quickly.

Associations as important ambassadors of this information

Industry and trade associations can be important mediators of this message. In addition to distributing the video trailer, the Artisana association is therefore launching a lecture offer for industry and trade associations. Under the title "Dealing with stress and psychological problems in small businesses", the results of the study will be presented, case studies will be explained, and the strengths and weaknesses of small businesses will be addressed. Time and place will be determined by the association, the costs will be covered by the Artisana association.

Information on the range of presentations for industry and trade associations can be found at: www.artisana.ch

The video trailer shows examples from three industries