PART
ONE
PART
FIVE
WHERE TO START
Improving your managers' abilities to effectively organize work and manage people can go a
long way in preventing mental distress and harm. In fact, according to the research, training
managers to understand and support the mental health of staff improved knowledge, attitudes
and self-reported behaviours. Even simple training can help to mitigate the costs of disability
and lead to higher productivity and efficiencies.
When it comes to training your management team, there are a few simple notions you can
implement in your workplace today:
1. Remind your managers to focus on the facts of a case – not hearsay or office gossip.
Managers should be encouraged to approach their employees about concerns and
speak to them face-to-face in a non-judgmental manner.
2. Understand an employee's choice of treatment for mental health concerns is outside
of their control. Their focus should stay on managing workplace stressors, clarifying
expectations and helping the employee be successful at their job. While managers
should remain as open and helpful as possible when dealing with mental health
concerns, they should not act as a therapist.
3. Be clear with your managers that their role is not to fix issues that reside outside of
the workplace. Furthermore, it is not healthy for one manager to be the sole support
for an individual – that's a lot of pressure for one person.
Effective managers understand not only the technical requirements of the job, but also what
it means to lead and coach people. Workplaces that do not prioritize training managers on
workplace mental health, are not providing managers with the tools they require to effectively
do their job.
Your managers have
mental health needs too
Although a manager is an employee,
their primary responsibility is to
manage other employees. It's also
their role and responsibility to support
the employer's efforts to accomplish
their duties under the OHSA.
However, don't forget about the mental
health of your managers! Managers
have many roles and responsibilities
and their jobs are not easy. We can't
forget that mental health is everyone's
responsibility – we all have a role to play.
Workplace Safety & Prevention Services
|
Workplace Mental Health
WSPS.CA
20
WSPS.CA
20
