Managers are key to supporting employees' mental health, but this should not come at the detriment of their own, commented Stephen Simpson, acting content manager of employment law and compliance for HR data and insights provider Brightmine.
Speaking to HR magazine, he said: “Managers play an important role in supporting good mental health in the workplace, in particular helping employees with mental health challenges to stay at work or return to work after absence.
"HR should develop comprehensive guidance and training for managers so that they can support their team’s mental wellbeing effectively and with confidence, without putting unnecessary pressures on the managers’ own mental health.”
Line managers who receive training in mental health contribute to better business outcomes, research has shown.
A study published in the science and medicine journal PLoS ONE last Wednesday (17 July) showed that mental health training for line managers led to improved organisational-level outcomes such as improved staff recruitment, retention, customer service, business performance and lower long-term sickness absences due to mental ill-health.
Kayla Velnoskey, senior principal researcher at advisory Gartner HR practice, told HR magazine that the responsibility on managers to support employees with their wellbeing has already caused their own to suffer.
Citing research conducted by Gartner, she said: “Managers are under more pressure than ever before, shouldering 51% more responsibilities than they can effectively handle. As a result, stress levels are soaring, with 54% of managers suffering from work-induced stress and nearly half (48%) are at risk of failure [May 2023].
“Gartner HR research indicates that employees working with these at-risk managers are 91% less likely to be high performers and three times more likely to leave their organisation [June 2023].”
HR should provide managers with training that allows them to manage their own mental wellbeing while supporting their employees, suggested Kelly Tucker, founder of consultancy HR Star.
Speaking to HR magazine, she said: “Comprehensive training programmes not only equip managers with the skills to support their teams' mental health but also provide them with tools to manage their own are a useful resource.”
Read more: HR leaders see mental health absences rise, report shows
Building awareness of mental health among managers can have knock-on effects for whole teams, added Jeanette Cook, principle wellbeing strategist at management consultancy Aon.
"Enabling managers to understand their own mental health and building this awareness at the managerial level brings a two-fold benefit: it gives line managers the opportunity to recognise and address good and poor mental health directly, and sets an example for the teams, removing taboo and helping to build an inclusive work culture," she told HR magazine.
Research by mental wellbeing platform Headspace (March 2024) found that HR professionals observed an increase in mental health absences. The survey of 1,000 CEOs, employees and HR leaders showed that while 44% of employees turned to their managers for mental health support, only a quarter of HR leaders said managers were required to take mental-health-specific training.
A further 43% of employees indicated that their managers had negatively impacted their mental health by lacking an understanding of their life and work hour boundaries, or by treating team members unequally.
Creating a supportive culture would enable managers to delegate responsibility for their employees’ mental health, Simpson added.
Speaking to HR magazine, he said: “HR should make it clear that the organisation does not expect line managers to make diagnoses, but that they should approach all aspects of a person's mental health in the same way they would any other kind of health-related issue, seeking specialist input in relation to issues such as assessing fitness for work, dealing with sickness absence, considering workplace adjustments and managing performance.”
Read more: Help 'accidental managers' develop key people skills
Tucker added HR should conduct regular check ins on managers as the demand increases for them to support employees’ mental health.
She continued: “After the initial training, offer ongoing support that includes regular check-ins, access to mental health professionals, and support groups. Ensure that managers are not overburdened by their new responsibilities.
“Offer leadership development programmes that include components on resilience, emotional intelligence, and self-awareness. These programmes can help managers better understand their own mental health needs and how to address them.”
Jim Moore, employee relations expert at consultancy Hamilton Nash, suggested that HR leaders could also support managers with mental health absences.
“Absence management, particularly for long-term mental health leave, can be a significant stress point for managers,” he told HR magazine. “Leaders often face unchanged workloads with reduced resources and typically can't hire replacements.
“In this instance, HR can assist managers in navigating absence management, occupational health, and capability processes to minimise the impact of long-term absences on both managers and the business."
