Employee check-in – Supporting Mental Health & Creating a Positive Culture

No matter what role you play within an organisation, from entry-level to executive, everyone experiences stress. The day-to-day anxieties of deadlines, expectations or difficulties at work can take a huge toll on anyone’s mental health. Not only does this create a detrimental impact on someone’s work performance, but also on their lives outside of office hours. There are lots of resources available for employees to help themselves, but managers and business leaders play an important part in reducing the impact on their employee’s mental health. But how can you create a supportive work environment? How can you approach a struggling employee? Here at Hinchen Recruitment Group, we’ve created a list of suggestions for managers and business leaders to create a positive work environment to better support their employee’s mental health.

In order to appropriately recommend a course of action that managers can do, it’s important to state what managers shouldn’t do, managers are not therapists. Mental Health is an extremely important social issue, but as a business, you cannot forget that it’s an incredibly important personal issue as well. Boundaries being overstepped, privacy being breached or even recommending unsupported medical advice can all transpire from managers trying to help struggling employees. It’s critical that you understand what you can do to help your employees or identifying when a professional is required. As a manager, it’s your job to listen to your employees, not to be their therapist.

So what can you do to check in on an employee? There are lots of fantastic resources out there from Beyond Blue or Head to Health that can help you in greater detail, but we’ve compiled a list of suggestions:

1.??? Regular Meetings

Scheduling regular meetings with managers creates a time and place for employees to be vulnerable. They don’t have to worry about distracting you from work as it’s a scheduled meeting and now have the opportunity to be honest. As a leader, you will receive valuable insights about your employees, and it will create more opportunities to support them. As stated before, it’s crucial to listen in these meetings and emphasize that it’s a safe space and that this conversation is unrelated to work performance, productivity, or outcomes. Reassure your employee that this is a conversation between the two of you and their privacy will be protected and won’t be spoken about without their express permission. These meetings do not have to be long; it’s about creating a relationship with the employee and ensuring they feel comfortable enough to talk about issues when they rise. Plenty of meetings will go by with no issues to discuss and that’s great, it’s not about forcing people to talk, it’s about letting them know that if they need to, they can talk to you.

Example Questions: Are you happy with the support you’re receiving from managers? What kinds of changes would you want to see? How are you coping with work? How would you rate your stress levels? Do you want to talk about anything affecting you outside of work?

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2.??? Creating a mentally healthy workplace

Research highlighted by The Mentally Healthy Work Place Alliance shows that a mentally healthy workplace is achievable for all organisations, but requires a genuine, continuous commitment across all levels of the workplace. The research has shown six key areas to maximise the mental health and wellbeing of your workforce:

??????????? Smarter Work Design – Flexible working hours and WFH Arrangements, creating more opportunities for people to be involved in decision-making processes & meeting WHS requirements to reduce risks to mental and physical injury

??????????? Build Resilience – Providing stress management and resilience training and providing mentoring and coaching.

??????????? Support Recovery – Providing training programs for leaders to support workers recovery from mental illness and during stressful life events, provide return-to-work programs and ensure people with a history of mental illness are not discriminated against.

??????????? Build Better Work Cultures – Provide training for mental health education, ensure senior staff are engaged in mental health promotion and ensure that change is managed in an inclusive manner with open and realistic communication.

??????????? Early Intervention – Promote and facilitate staff to seek help early and provide a peer support program for staff.

??????????? Increase Awareness – Provide access to mental health information and resources, conduct regular mental health awareness programs and training and actively engage in R U OK? Day and World Mental Health Day.

For more information, visit www.blackdoginstitute.org.au.

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3.??? Notice the observable changes

According to Seek, 36% of managers say they’ve checked in on the people that report to them when they noticed they were struggling at work. There are a few things that can stand out in the behaviours of an employee such as mood, appearance and thinking. People act a certain way and when those behaviours change, it can be for a number of reasons. If something doesn’t seem right then check in with them, ask if they’re okay because of those changes you’ve seen and make sure they feel supported. Everyone has bad days, weeks or even months sometimes, what they don’t always have is the right support. If something doesn’t feel right, check in. It doesn’t mean you’re going to solve whatever is affecting them, but having those conversations can give you the opportunity to recommend professional help or strategies at work that can help them. Not only will this help their mental health, but it creates a far more trusting and supportive environment which will benefit everyone at the company.

At Hinchen Recruitment Group, we believe in creating a supportive workplace and have weekly meetings with the whole team to talk about their highs and lows. It’s a fantastic opportunity to celebrate peoples wins and support those who are struggling with work. One-on-one meetings with managers are always welcome, but team meetings are a great opportunity to support each other as well. Our Managing Director, Louisa Hinchen, believes in the importance of developing authentic relationships with every employee:

??????????? “When we employ people, we employee the whole them, not just between the hours of 9:00am – 5:00pm. If things happen outside of the office and they need help, I’d want my entire team to feel comfortable enough to reach out to me on a personal level. No matter what is happening, I am always happy to listen and offer whatever support I can. That’s how you support a positive work environment”.