Having the conversation about mental health at work

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It was after taking his first administrative job that Jaan Madan discovered the impact of a conversation. Having recently moved to a new area with his young family, he was determined to excel at work, but his mental health soon began to deteriorate.

“Pretty quickly, my performance dropped,” he says. “I was coming to work earlier, I was staying later, I was trying to catch up. It was having an impact on my personal life, the team was starting to drift and they weren’t happy.”

Madan, now the global director of training development at the MindForward Alliance, a nonprofit that works with large companies, recalls that a tipping point came when “someone older than me came up one afternoon and said, ‘Turn off your computer. , let’s go for a walk together,’ and he asked me how I was doing”.

Research from the charity Mind suggests that work is often the biggest cause of stress in people’s lives, and that people experiencing mental health problems struggle to concentrate and put off challenging tasks.

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To mitigate this, experts say communication is critical. Miriam Earley, Deloitte’s director of inclusion and wellbeing, notes that if an employee had a “broken leg, we’d like to know about it, to make sure the right adjustments are made, and we take the same approach with mental health.”

This can be as simple as an employee talking to a manager about practical ways to support their well-being. Andrew Berrie, Mind’s head of workplace wellbeing, says: “It could be [you’re given the time to] go for a walk in the park, it could be picking up the kids from school. It’s having a conversation with your manager about how to facilitate that.” Deloitte has formalized this idea through its “ways of working framework,” which offers a prompt template to help colleagues communicate their wellness needs.

For managers, meanwhile, ensuring a healthy work culture is more complex than simply offering “yoga and fruit bowls,” Madan says.. “It’s all about building relationships, trust and connection,” he says. “Be effective, [managers] we have to engender these values ​​every day.”

The importance of this trust can be seen in recent studies. According to Mind’s research, only 35 percent of those aged 18 to 24 say they would disclose a mental health problem in the workplace, compared to half of older workers. Even though the younger generation is “the most mentally literate,” says Berrie, “the stigma hardens in times of economic hardship.”

The role of managers in overcoming this is vital. TO report of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development said this month that there were clear links between line manager quality and the mental health of employees. In part, this comes from “knowing an individual and ongoing conversations,” says Rachel Suff, CIPD’s senior policy adviser. “I catch up weekly with my manager and the environment feels safe. It is natural for him to ask me how I am, and for that question to be meaningful.

The environment in which these regular conversations take place is important. As much as possible, you should allow for a confidential discussion, says Berrie. This means putting phones on silent to avoid interruptions. If it’s a virtual meeting, properly notify her colleague so she can find confidential space.

Beyond regular check-ins, managers may notice changes in a worker’s behavior, such as missing deadlines or talking less. It’s okay to ask questions, as long as they’re not judgmental and focus on the person, not their performance. For example, “I’ve noticed that you were late recently. Let’s put work aside for now, is everything alright?”

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One trap, says Berrie, is to make assumptions. Some managers may have had a previous employee suffer from mental health issues, but comparisons are often not helpful. “Something we heard during the pandemic was that he asked people: ‘[If] everyone else is in the same boat and doing well, why can’t you?’”

Managers also need to recognize their limitations, Earley says, “so people can access the expert help they need,” whether it’s from human resources or a doctor. They may need proper training, as well as being provided with the necessary resources and time. Otherwise, Suff warns, there is a risk that “managers will just approach it as a formalistic checkbox.”

Not all employees will open up at work, and that’s okay. “You’re someone’s manager, and regardless of your role, you probably aren’t their therapist either,” Madan says. “There is no magic phrase that you can use. If people don’t want to talk to you, then it’s about recognizing and honoring it.”

Or, as Suff puts it, a colleague’s well-being is sometimes “out of the organization’s control, but what the organization can do is make sure it doesn’t make the problem worse.”