Healthier Teams: why managers are your #1 mental health resource

Looking after their people’s mental health and well-being is high on most companies' agendas these days. Mental Health First Aiders and Employee Assistance Programs are pretty standard in the company suite of support. But in my experience, one of the most overlooked areas for focus is the ability and quality of their managers.

And this is a big oversight.

We all know that people spend so much time at work, and their experience in the workplace can have a big impact on how they are feeling. The person who can have the biggest influence on that workplace experience is, of course, their manager.

Figures from a survey compiled by a global think tank, the Workforce Institute at UKG (made up of researchers, thought leaders, and industry experts), found that a manager’s impact on mental health can be as much as a spouse or partner (69%).

It’s not surprising. We see our managers every day, and they have oversight over our work life. For example, they influence:

·      Support (or lack thereof)

·      Recognition (or lack thereof)

·      Workload management (or lack thereof)

·      Development (or lack thereof)

Companies can exacerbate this problem in two ways:

1.  By ‘promoting and hoping.’ They promote their best performers into management roles without the right training, coaching, or support. Just because someone was a great accountant or technician doesn’t mean they know how to manage people.

2.  Assuming managers know how to manage. The vast majority of managers learned how to manage (or not), or more importantly, what they *think* a manager should do, from a previous manager in their career. In short, they will often repeat what they saw from previous managers. This could be good or bad (and in some cases, very, very bad).

Either way, you can end up with a lot of managers who are trying their best but are not creating the working environment you are looking for.

Isn’t it time that you prioritized supporting your managers so they can better support your people? Want to know how we can help? Get in touch.