Category: News
Mental Health in the Workplace
The World Health Organisation sums up the state of positive mental health as:
“A state of wellbeing where every individual has the potential to cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively, and is able to contribute positively to the community”.
What is Mental Ill Health?
Mental ill health, which can range from stress, anxiety, and depression to more severe conditions such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, has a significant impact on employee wellbeing and can affect one in four people at some point in their lives. Poor mental health is a major cause of long-term sickness absence from work. Employers are advised to promote good mental health and provide support for employees who are experiencing mental ill health.
We all experience things in different ways, two employees suffering with anxiety will display different symptoms, adapt with different coping mechanisms, and have different tolerance levels. Workplace support needs to be tailored to an individual’s specific needs.
Managers need training to be able to help staff with poor Mental Health
Managers need to be given the tools, training and understanding to be able to recognise symptoms of stress and anxiety, support members of their team with sensitive issues such as anxiety and depression and know when to refer them to specialist medical practitioners.
Access2 Human Resources can provide access to online training covering the following subjects:
· Depression Awareness
· Developing a Mental Health Policy
· Mental Health Awareness
· Stress Management
· Supervising Mental Health at work.
For a stress-free solution to providing training for your managers, simply call the office on Tel 01722 325833
Supporting employees suffering with poor Mental Health
‘Management Style’ is a main cause of work-related stress (CIPD 2022) which goes to show the negative impact people managers can have on employee’s wellbeing if they are not trained and supported to manage their teams in the right way.
Actively promoting mental wellbeing leads to greater staff productivity, morale and retention, and reduced sickness absence and presenteeism.
Employers have a duty of care towards their staff, it is important that staff feel supported by the Company, but it should also be recognised when professional help from a doctor or a counsellor is required.
How to help
- Keep communication channels open.
- Call the employee if they are absent from work or invite them to talk confidentially if they are at work.
- Tell them you want to support them and ask what you can do to help.
- Encourage them to visit their GP who may be able to help by offering counselling and/or medication.
- Sensitively ask about the reasons behind their stress.
- Try to find out if it is their work which is causing them stress and anxiety.
- If it is work which is causing their poor mental health, try and work out together if there are any adjustments which can be made to their role to support them.
- Offer further training or mentoring if required and see if there is any aspect of the role that needs to be changed.
- Implement any reasonable adjustments you mutually agree may help reduce the stress and anxiety they are experiencing.
Reasonable adjustments should only be made if they are considered to be potentially beneficial to the employee and, they would not have a detrimental effect on the running of the business. Any changes should be monitored to ensure that the employee is benefitting, and the Company is not suffering.
MIND The national association for mental health advise that employees complete a Wellness Action Plan. The below link provides further information:
https://www.mind.org.uk/media-a/5760/mind-guide-for-employees-wellness-action-plans_final.pdf
If you have an employee suffering from poor mental health which has resulted in sickness absence and would like to know how best to manage the situation, please call us on Telephone 01722 325833.
Tracey Osmond
HR Services Manager