Jeffrey Pfeffer in his book, Dying for a paycheck, wrote, “The person you report to at work may be more important to your health than your family doctor.”
The topic of mental health at work is extremely close to my heart, and in addition to having done presentations at conferences, written business articles in publications and having done a recent webinar, I am planning a series of training programmes for angers and employees soon. This is in attempt to consciously deal with this growing scourge by building capability and confidence.
Wellbeing is predicted to be the next pandemic and will be regarded as the fourth bottom line, so companies and business
owners cannot afford to take this topic lightly. Wellbeing needs
to become a strategic objective. Just to reiterate some staggering facts about mental health, which I presented on my recent webinar, see below. There are a number of statistics available which should jolt us into action – the figures below are mainly from the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG).
In South Africa, one in four people suffer from depression – and it is predicted that 80%
of the workforce will experience depressive symptoms by 2030.
For each person who takes their life, ten people have attempted to do so. South Africa
has the third highest suicide rate in Africa
30% of United Kingdom workers have been diagnosed with mental conditions at some point – so mental health is a global phenomenon
80% of workers come to work despite experiencing depression
Presenteeism costs South Africa in the region of R200bn per annum and globally costs trillions in lost productivity according to the World Health Organization
75% of employees refuse to get treatment
26% of employees don’t disclose their condition because there is no support or guidance
19% of employees fear reporting their condition at work because of stigmatisation
So, there is a need to reiterate that mental health and wellness is a leadership issue. In addition to treating wellbeing as the fourth bottom line, businesses have to train their managers to deal with this rising challenge. Not dealing with it will result in a major cost to the business because of lost productivity and sick days. SADAG reported that they fielded 600 calls a day before Covid, which increased to 2200 calls a day at the end of September 2021. It is also important to note that employee assistance programmes, whilst they have been instituted in many organisations, are not as widely utilised by employees, and may need some attention. This article will delve into why it is important for managers to have the tools and know-how to support employees’ mental health, and how you can work towards creating a compassionate and supportive workplace culture through mental health support.
SOME SUCCESS STORIES REGARDING MENTAL HEALTH DEVELOPMENT
Anglian Water Group, a British company, won an award for their mental health strategy, which was developed with three key elements:
Increasing awareness of mental health and breaking the stigma
Providing a range of resources and tools to support employees’ mental health
Completing mental health training
Heathrow Airport
Experienced an 80% decline in work-related stress absences
in 2018
Created a one-day off-site education course for line managers “Your mind matters,” focusing on three topics:
▷ The importance of creating a positive psychological environment
▷ How to catch someone before they fall
▷ Helping them to return to work
There are a number of other success stories related to how intentional training and development will help businesses to effectively deal with this challenge.
MANAGER’S ROLE IN MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT
Managers must receive training, e.g. simple guidance on how to talk (and listen)
to those with mental health problems and training on the management of wellbeing. Some recommendations would be:
Owning responsible leadership – this must be leader led in the quest to build future fit organisations
Understanding the impact of work
Equipping managers with the tools and skills
Providing tailored support
Managers play a crucial role in creating a supportive work environment for employees experiencing mental health issues. They are generally the employee’s first point of contact and if they are fostering open communication and mental health conversations, they can help break the stigma surrounding mental health – where every employee can bring their best selves to work. Let’s look at some of the components of a training programme:
Identifying signs of mental health – recognising signs and symptoms of common conditions, including anxiety, depression, stress and others. Managers should learn how to look for changes in behaviour and increased absenteeism, and become comfortable on how to proceed with providing appropriate support through firstly acknowledging the problem and then referring them on to the next level.
Effective communication – managers need to be able to communicate with employees because employees will only open up to someone who is trustworthy and who will respond appropriately to their concerns.
Providing support and accommodation – managers need to be able to provide personalised support and accommodation as reasonably possible .
Fostering a culture of wellbeing – it is important to remember that the cost of not attending to this problem can be expensive, so creating a culture of wellbeing will help with creating a positive work environment, which would lead to increased morale, productivity and overall organisational success. By providing mental health skills for managers, your company can make sure it delivers a consistent approach to mental health and wellbeing that is positively impacting the bottom line. One of the most important factors emerging for business to attend to is the challenge of dealing with stigmatisation and getting employees to talk openly about their struggles. In addition to training, which should not be looked at in isolation, some of the following is recommended:
Identify and address factors that are negatively affecting mental health – using surveys, focus groups, town halls, etc.
Increase investment in mental health
Build deeper connections across the employees – human beings are social beings, and digitisation has had some negative influence with regard to human interaction
Educate, support and encourage employees and managers
Create an enabling environment – create a safe space, psychological safety and
new thinking with better understanding of this real problem If you need any help with this important matter, please feel free to call on me to assist. You can view the recent webinar on www.youtube.com/ watch?v=DuJ-sXKrg68 I also recommend that you watch the video that is included in the webinar on loneliness.
Together, we can help solve this problem in our workplace.
Contact Jacquie for more information, contact details below
C: +27 (0)83 386 8343
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