The role of line managers in supporting employee mental health and wellbeing is vital; ensuring that employees are in a safe space at work and feel supported through difficult times should be a priority of line managers. However with urgent deadlines, an unmanageable workload and pressure from other departments, this priority can sometimes slip down the list and result in a poor work/life balance and an increase in stress.
It’s likely that line managers have the best intentions of supporting their staff through personal and mental health issues but may not have the necessary training or confidence to action this. As leaders and managers are critical in promoting good employee mental health, it is essential that they have the confidence and understand what they should and shouldn’t do.
What should and shouldn’t a line manager do to support employee mental health?
This is an interesting topic. While it is important for managers to support their employees’ mental health, it is also not their role to act as therapists or provide mental health treatment.
It can be tricky for managers to navigate the complex terrain of supporting employee mental health while also setting boundaries and avoiding overstepping into the role of a therapist, but it’s crucial to recognise that acting as a therapist can create a power imbalance in the manager-employee relationship and can lead to ethical and legal issues.
Managers who overstep the line can unintentionally cause harm to their employees. For instance, they might give inaccurate or harmful advice, miss, or misinterpret signs of a more serious mental health condition, or even create a sense of dependency that can be harmful to the employee’s long-term mental health. Additionally, managers may not have the necessary training or expertise to deal with complex mental health issues.
It is important for managers to be aware of their limitations when it comes to mental health and to provide support without trying to act as a therapist. Managers can help to create a supportive work environment by:
- Fostering a culture of open communication and respect; scheduling regular check-ins, ensuring employees feel valued and creating a safe space where they feel comfortable discussing any concerns
- Promoting work-life balance; encouraging flexibility within the role including working hours, taking regular breaks and implementing hybrid-working
- Raising awareness; sharing resources and openly talking about mental health to remove stigmas
HR can help by providing training and guidance to managers on how to effectively support employees’ mental health while also setting boundaries and avoiding overstepping into therapy territory. This could include:
- Providing training on active listening and empathy without crossing the line into therapy. This can help managers develop a better understanding of how to support employees without taking on a therapeutic role.
- Offering resources for employees, such as an employee assistance program (EAP), counselling services, or mental health hotlines. This can help managers direct employees to appropriate resources without overstepping.
- Encouraging managers to prioritise their own self-care and mental health. This can help managers maintain their own boundaries and avoid taking on more than they can handle.
- Setting clear expectations for the role of managers in supporting employee mental health. This can include outlining what types of support are appropriate for managers to provide, and what types of support should be directed to mental health professionals.
What are the indicators for managers and leaders that the workplace is doing well in terms of mental health and wellbeing?
It can be easier to measure when things aren’t going well in terms of employee mental health, as negative indicators such as absenteeism, turnover, and reduced productivity are often more noticeable and measurable than positive indicators of mental health such as job satisfaction or sense of fulfilment. It’s still possible to measure positive indicators, but this might require more effort and resources.
Positive indicators like resilience, positive emotions, and a sense of purpose are important for creating a healthy and thriving workplace culture. You’ll gain insights supporting these measures through surveys, exit interviews, focus groups, and regular feedback.
The last one is incredibly important – the organisation needs to support managers to encourage regular and open, 360-feedback which is likely to create a more positive culture within teams, where employees feel more supported and valued. Finding a way to capture this feedback at a team level and aggregate it could help provide a big-picture view of wellbeing in organisations.
Do you have any tips on setting up ways to support staff dealing with burn-out?
First and most importantly, providing access to confidential counselling services through an EAP and signposting this to people is critical for employees to discuss their stress, trauma, or burnout related concerns. Also, providing resources so that people can identify and manage the signs and symptoms in themselves and others will help catch issues early-on so people can access the right support.
Tools like self-assessments, articles, training, buddy systems, and mindfulness resources can help with this. Having a good check-in and feedback process and supporting managers to facilitate this can also help deal with it before it escalates. Encourage open-door polices and practice empathic listening without judgement. But be thoughtful about ensuring managers have access to training and guidance so they can comfortably maintain professional boundaries and avoid overstepping the line into therapy.
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