A widely cited 2023 UKG Workplace Institute survey found almost 70% of employees indicated their boss had more impact on their mental health than their therapist or doctor[1]. Why is that? 18% of Canadians would say their mental health is “fair” or “poor”[2]. 1 in 5 meet the criteria for a mental illness[3]. As a manager:
- Do you create a place for these team members to grow and learn or just barely survive?
- Are you pre-occupied with your own survival and just keeping your head above water?
- On a scale of 0 – 10, how comfortable are you with your workplace mental health skills? What are your next steps in your leadership practice?
If you lead other leaders, how are they leading?
- Do your leaders improve or harm the health of their followers?
- Are they aware of their duty to inquire and accommodate rather than performance manage someone who may have a mental health problem?
These are important questions to answer for you and your organization. Basic mental health literacy and entry-level manager mental health skills are recommended by the World Health Organization[4].
A recent study by Karina Neilsen and Jo Yarker found employees who returned to work following a mental health leave of absence found their manager to be compassionate, indifferent, or demeaning[5]. Chances are you know someone who has struggled with mental health problems — how would you hope their manager would be? What if your child or your spouse was struggling — how would you want their manager show up? If someone in your workplace has been away on a leave of absence — would you feel comfortable being compassionate? Or would you be indifferent, awkward, or distant? Will you use stigmatizing language that increases the exclusion they feel? What each of us does matters — how you lead, how your organization acts. Basic mental health literacy for employees and leaders matters.
In my Masters research I asked people who had been off work with a serious injury, what it was like returning to work, and what helped them. Over three-quarters said they still had problems, lacked confidence, and needed help as they returned. Worse, some felt invalidated and marginalized. What helped? A genuine interest in them from their supervisor, choice in modified work, and regard from their co-workers. As an organization — do your leaders and employees help or hinder when someone is struggling with a health or mental health problem? Recently I worked with a burly mechanic who had long COVID — he had lost his physical strength and stamina — his meal ticket. He came back alive when his employer expressed concern and offered him an accommodation. It literally made his world.
As a younger manager, do you wish you had a do over? Do you hope for your younger managers to have a better go at it? I can certainly think of a few as a young manager. I am sure most leaders can identify an employee who was struggling, had great potential, but left the organization struggling. In my “do over” folder is one employee who, if had I asked her what she needed, an accommodation of flexible hours and work from home options would have made a real difference in her mental health and her family. Instead, she left the organization likely in worse shape than when she arrived and probably discouraged. Would I do things differently now? Thankfully yes. And we can all level up our management practice.
When it comes to helping rather than performance managing employees struggling with what could be a mental health problem, what are your next steps in your leadership learning?
- If you are a leader, I’d recommend you take a course covering basic competencies of mental health self-awareness, observing signs of struggle in others, how to have conversations when you are concerned about a follower’s mental health, and a primer on psychological health & safety. I facilitate such courses in small group learning sessions.
- If you lead other leaders, consider group training to ensure better learning transfer with pre & post work and additional customizations.
- If you are a direct contributor, consider The Working Mind, a well-rounded and validated course, of which I am also a certified facilitator.
Reach out and ask with any questions!
[1] Workforce Institute@ UKG, “Mental Health at Work: Managers and Money,” 2023, https://www.ukg.com/resources/white-paper/mental-health-work-managers-and-money.
[2] Statistics Canada, “Perceived Mental Health, by Gender and Other Selected Sociodemographic Characteristics” (Government of Canada, 2023), https://doi.org/10.25318/4510008001-ENG.
[3] Ellen Stephenson, “Mental Disorders and Access to Mental Health Care” (Statistics Canada, September 22, 2023), https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/75-006-x/2023001/article/00011-eng.pdf.
[4] World Health Organization and International Labour Organization, Mental Health at Work: Policy Brief (Geneva: World Health Organization, 2022), https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/362983.
[5] Karina Nielsen and Jo Yarker, “Employees’ Experience of Supervisor Behaviour – a Support or a Hindrance on Their Return-to-Work Journey with a CMD? A Qualitative Study,” Work & Stress 37, no. 4 (November 14, 2022): 1–22, https://doi.org/10.1080/02678373.2022.2145622.
Lewis Health Management Consulting 