(a mental) Hup, One, Two, Three…

In our last article we focused on how to help maintain a physically healthy workforce and workplace. Now we're going to look at both from the mental point of view. In other words, how can we help to keep and develop a mentally healthy workforce?

This is a much more difficult area to deal with, partly because the signs of mental distress are more subtle than their physical counterparts, and partly because most of us are unwilling to admit that we or a close colleague are having difficulty in coping.

Incidentally, in this blog we are looking mainly at the problems that develop, or which are first observed, in the workplace. Most of us have 'baggage' of some sort that we bring to work, but in most cases we have found ways in which to absorb that baggage and deal with it in a healthy way. That sort of issue does not usually show itself in the workplace unless, of course, it is triggered by other things such as tiredness, work stress, bullying or harassment and so on. Nor shall we be looking at those people who have psychological or psychiatric conditions. These should have been identified at interview, when appropriate arrangements should have been considered to help them, if appropriate, during their employment.

So let's start with the expression 'mental fitness'. What does it mean? There are probably as many answers as there are workers, because we each have our idea of what makes us happy, or satisfied, or motivated.

Perhaps a better question is 'what does it mean to be mentally unfit?' If we see a colleague who is always snapping at people, or who seems constantly listless and unmotivated, or who takes frequent unscheduled breaks from work, we would suspect that something is wrong, and that the worker's attitude is not conducive to good working relations, or productivity, or even staff retention.

So a person who is seen as 'mentally unfit' might be so stressed by work, or co-workers, or outside factors that are unresolved, that it impacts negatively on their ability to fulfil their employer's reasonable expectations of them. These might include, for example, meeting targets, or amount of time spent working, attending training courses, flexibility in taking on different jobs, etc.

And all this can be true of a manager, even a senior one, just as much as of a junior employee.

As always, there are responsibilities on both employers and employees in trying to achieve a healthy workplace – not forgetting, of course, the increasing expectation through legislation and the courts that employers are the ones to shoulder much of the responsibility and cost of putting effective measures in place, and they are the ones with most to lose financially if things go wrong.

So here are some suggestions, starting with the workers, that may be helpful – as before, these are in no particular order:

• Your main concern must be for your own mental welfare. After all, if you are not functioning properly, how can you be sensitive to how others are coping, and how are you going to help them?

• Your holiday entitlement is given to you for a very good reason, so make sure you use it. A survey carried out by CareerOne in August 2011 revealed that some 88% of workers (across all industries) worked more than their scheduled hours during the first 6 months of the year and, with the skills gap increasing, that figure may now be higher. We all need to work outside our agreed hours from time to time, but even if you get paid for overtime, make sure you are not working to the point of overtiredness. If you're too tired, your judgement starts to become faulty, leading to poor decision-making, irascibility and lack of creative insight. And if you are involved with machinery, you can become dangerous!

• Don't be afraid to talk to someone if you feel that you're not coping. There is no shame in admitting to feeling out of your depth, or overworked, or stressed. After all, if you broke a leg at work, you wouldn't try to hide it, would you? Things that happen to us, or affect us, mentally, are no different in that they simply reflect that a part of our body needs some help to perform better.

• So you can try talking to a friend, or colleague with whom you get on, or a line manager. You may well eventually be referred to HR, where there should be staff trained to deal with this type of issue and who will have access to programmes or techniques that can help.

• Remember, if you are good at your work, the business will want to retain you, and they will be just as interested in promoting a good outcome for you as you are.

• Unless there are problems of a developing mental illness or some other chronic problem, there should be no impact, long term, as far as your job and promotion prospects are concerned. Indeed, if there were these could be regarded as discriminatory and potentially illegal.

• Make sure that you have a life outside work. There is much pressure and competition in the workplace, and this sometimes encourages people to focus too much on work matters and promotion, even to the exclusion of friends and family. This is wrong. Work should provide you with stimulation and security, along with the money you need to develop your home, your family, your interests and so on. One day you will retire from work, and the people and interests you have maintained outside of your career will be more important than ever to you.

For employers, the position is in many ways quite different. The legal and administrative burdens associated with employment are heavy, and increasing, and so often an employer can only deal with any stress or other mental issues after the problem has arisen, because they simply won't know that there is a problem until someone says something.

Fortunately, there some good and well-established things that can be done, both to help the worker who develops a problem and to help the employer in dealing sensitively and correctly when the time comes:

• Where possible, and where appropriate, staff involved in HR and those who are in charge of groups of people (project managers, team leaders, and so on) should be given some degree of training regarding how to deal with mental health issues in the workplace.

• Anyone attending training will need to attend refresher courses every one to two years. Health in the workplace is not a static issue, and new guidelines and legislation are always in the pipeline, so businesses need to be able to best protect themselves and their workers.

• Your books of instruction and guidance manuals should make all workers aware that the business treats mental health issues seriously, that it will do all it reasonably can to support workers who run into problems and should set out a 'pathway' which workers can follow to seek assistance.

Indeed, it may be worth considering including some form of statement of intent, along the lines of the Mindful Employment Charter proposed by Sane Australia. Although this is a purely voluntary arrangement, it does demonstrate that an employer is taking the subject seriously and is keen to look after its workforce.

• As part of the training requirement mentioned above, managers etc. should receive guidance on how to deal with interviews that take place regarding mental health issues. These need to be sensitive to the individual, of course, but some real skill is needed by the interviewer in trying to get an understanding of the worker's problem/s without seeming to be too intrusive or hectoring. Good communication is needed, here, to help discover the correct way forward – and to protect the business in case of any legal backlash.

• Encourage workers to take their holidays! For example, at the start of the business year, consider getting your workforce to specify first/second/third choice dates for their main holiday, and then discuss these at a meeting (this can be done by section, or department) when all the affected workers can discuss this with the group leader. The business shows that it cares enough to make the workers take their entitlement, and all the different dates can be properly synchronised so that the business operation is not unduly affected.

• Encourage line managers and supervisors to look out for the warning signs, perhaps by talking to each of the workers in an open, friendly, way and by being aware of the 'mood' of the workplace. These health issues always have a starting point, and the earlier it is identified the more successful an outcome you are likely to achieve.

• Don't forget that proper, detailed, reporting (in writing) of the whole process is essential. As far as possible this should be open reporting, so that the worker gets to see and agree copies. The report should cover, but necessarily be limited to, a statement of the problem, the subsequent discussion leading to an agreed definition of the problem, identification of any other factors which may be relevant (such as bullying, too much work, and so on) and an agreed statement of the way forward. This could include, perhaps, re-training, counselling, the seeking of medical advice, use of an Employment Assistance Program or, of course, the invoking of disciplinary procedures. Again, everything must go in writing, and the employee must receive two copies, one of which is to be signed and returned to the interviewer. It is always best to assume that matters such as this will proceed to court even though, in reality, only a minority of cases do.

According to ComCare (November 2012), the average cost to an employer of an employee taking leave due to stress is about $250,000. If (as discussed in the previous article) some 45% of the workforce will develop some form of mental illness, the potential cost to a business having, say, 1000 employees is, on current figures, $112,500,000. And that figure does not allow for inflation, and assumes that each employee has only one bout of illness! This means that there's an excellent business case for the relatively small investment in your employees' well-being

If you are the victim, of course, it's even worse. You will have to cope with the disruption to your life and work, and the measures necessary to get you back on your feet, and your family and friends will have to cope with you! This means that there's also an excellent case for the relatively small investment in your own well-being, as well.