For anybody who manages people at work, mental health and well-being is an important area to work on. This can range from employees experiencing difficult emotions to severe mental health problems and illness.
Why does well-being matter?
Good well-being means employees can cope better with day-to-day stress, keep high productively levels, and interact with others on the team positively. As many of us will have experienced ourselves, this well-being can fluctuate somewhat dependent on many factors. If allowed to fester, workplace stress can spiral into a big problem for an employee. So, it is important to be aware of your team members mental health and well-being, so that you are able to manage this.
Of course, work is not the only factor at play when it comes to mental health and home life can also have a huge part to play. This could make some managers feel that it is not their place or their problem to get involved. But this is short-sighted and costly due to staff sickness and retention:
• Poor mental health is the most common cause of long-term sickness absence in UK workplaces (Chartered Institute or Personnel and Development, 2018)
• From those affected by workplace stress surveyed by Mind, 14% had resigned as the outcome and 42% had considered resigning
• 21% surveyed by Mind had called in sick due to workplace stress
What can I do to support Employee Well-being?
Good induction
Giving new staff a full induction to their new role will help with their ability to manage their workload effectively. A warm welcome and first impression can lay the foundations for open and honest communication in the workplace going forward, and can build confidence in terms of them asking for help in the future if that is needed.
Staff training
There are many tools and resources available out there for line managers in terms of training and knowledge that can be shared with employees to help them to build resilience, and learn how to cope and manage their own mental health. Mind have a great catalogue of resources on their website here: https://www.mind.org.uk/workplace/mental-health-at-work/taking-care-of-your-staff/useful-resources/
Risk Assessments
Implement ‘Wellness Action Plan’s into your workplace, which is an evidence-based approach to preventing poor mental health. There is a useful template online: https://www.mind.org.uk/workplace/mental-health-at-work/taking-care-of-your-staff/employer-resources/wellness-action-plan-download/
Be aware of Triggers
This is something that varies from person to person but some are more general and common sense. Depending on the work environment it is not always possible to remove triggers. However, speaking to employees about how they affect each of them can help to work towards minimising damage.
Examples of triggers of poor well-being include:
- Long working hours with no breaks
- Unrealistic expectations and deadlines
- Target driven environments with unnecessary pressure
- Lack of communication
- Working alone
- Unmanageable workloads
- Only negative feedback.
Encourage conversation about Mental Health
More than four in ten (43%) employees would not feel comfortable disclosing unmanageable stress or poor mental health to their employer or manager (CIPD 2016). Similarly, a Mind survey found many employees worried that their employer will think they can’t do their job.
This is something you can actively change as a manager, in the way the subject is approached and spoken about.
Some tips:
- Do not minimise any issues around stress and well-being. It is not helpful to compare staff members or say anything along the lines of ‘well everybody else can manage’
- Ask simple, open-ended questions. This allows the conversation to flow better and for the employee to expand on what they are saying in their own words
- Make sure that privacy is explicitly given
- Do not judge, and instead look at ways you can help
- Refer to outside help if you think that is needed. Such as encouraging a visit to the GP and allowing time off for medical appointments in relation to mental health
- Treat everyone as an individual, and try not to make any sweeping judgements. Many employees who struggle with their mental health can remain highly productive and active members of the team.
Normalise conversations around mental health, if you don’t know how then a simple “How are you?” is a good place to start!
Assess yourself
The CIPD research in 2018 found that management style was the second highest contributing factor impacting people’s mental well-being.
Ask yourself if you make yourself truly available for your employees, in an environment that welcomes employee engagement, so that they have a say in how things are ran and what their job entails.
A culture of mutual respect allows everyone to feel they are able to speak up when something is bothering them. It is important as a manager to take stock of this and take a genuine assessment of how your employees feel about their workplace. The wellness action plan and risk assessments are a great way to do this!
Lead by example
This means ensuring that you have healthy working habits; work sensible hours, take your lunch break, use annual leave, and take time away from your desk. If you are not looking after your own well-being then it is likely that employees will follow suit.
Positive Adjustments
There are many simple adjustments that can be made to better employee well-being, such as:
- Flexibility: changing of start and finish times, allowing work from home days when requested
- Workspace: moving desks to a quieter area, utilising more natural light in work spaces
- Allowing time off work for counselling and therapy appointments
- Reallocating some aspects of a role until an employee’s health has improved
- Increasing supervising to further support team members
- Sharing information with regards to coping strategies and tools.
This is only the tip of the iceberg as just like with physical health, mental health is so varied and individual to each working environment. However, doing what you reasonably can to manage wellbeing in your workplace will help in the long-run to prevent workplace stress escalating and even causing long-term, serious mental health problems.
Blog by Amy Crosbie, Resourcing Consultant for the North East and Yorkshire.
Information taken from: CIPD People Managers Guide to Mental Health and https://www.mind.org.uk/workplace/ – both accessed on 9th May 2022
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