The pandemic has had a significant impact on small business owners with half reporting difficulty coping with mental health challenges, according to Near the Breaking Point: Mental Health in Small Business – a new report by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) and Nexim Canada (PrimaSure).
"Owning and operating a business can be a very challenging and exhausting job. Business owners who are still struggling to reopen fully or return to normal revenues tend to be closest to burning out," said Corinne Pohlmann, Senior Vice-President of National Affairs at CFIB in a May 3 statement. "In addition, business owners are struggling to take care of themselves while looking after their staff. There are limited mental health and wellness programs and initiatives aimed at smaller businesses, making it harder for them to access resources that might help."
CFIB's study reveals that 66% of small business owners are close to burning out. Meanwhile, “mental health concerns have also increased for employees over the course of the pandemic, with more employers aware that some of their employees are facing mental health issues in 2022 than in 2020 (54% and 35%, respectively),” says the organization.
"The stress and struggles of the pandemic have hurt business owners' capacity to take on those support roles for their employees," Pohlmann added. "Small businesses don't have dedicated human resources support and, when the owner is already under an extreme amount of stress themselves, it is not surprising that they feel less prepared to support their employees' mental health."
The CFIB provided some recommendations and strategies business owners and employees can follow: having an open dialogue within workplaces around mental health; getting to know one's colleagues, and proactively seeking treatment; considering cost-effective initiatives and supports that can be easily implemented when needed to support a positive workplace or a coworker struggling; and setting a good example of work/life boundaries that fit the business's needs.
"Although small businesses may not always have the same resources as larger companies, working for a small firm has its own advantages. Being a part of a close-knit team allows small business owners to be more comfortable discussing mental health issues in the workplace," Pohlmann concluded. "Giving them the tools to do that effectively can make it easier for owners to support themselves and their employees."
