Improving Your Mental Well-being Strategy

The effectiveness of mental well-being strategies in the workplace could be further helped by providing some much-needed coaching support.

The whole idea of effectiveness has been heightened during the Covid-19 pandemic with more people working from home, staff being furloughed but the same outcomes and quality still expected by the customer.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) Health and Well-being at Work Survey 2020 has listed some key points from their findings showing clearly where organisations can focus their efforts to make effective improvements in their approach to mental well-being at work, these are:

• Creating supportive leadership cultures where senior leaders lead by example.
• Training people managers so they can confidently point employees in the right direction for support.
• Using Occupational Health to address long term absence, promote health, and reduce sickness.
• Providing a general environment where people feel comfortable and safe when talking about health issues.*

On the surface, these key action points for organisations may seem straight forward but understanding where the points of concern lie will provide greater focus for action.  What do the statistical findings list as the areas of concern?

Mental ill-health was recorded as the highest cause of Long-term absence at 59%, followed by Musculoskeletal injuries at 53%, with Stress in third place at 46%.*

If you question whether engaging in a well-being strategy might be beneficial this same report notes that 9 out of 10 organisations found positive outcomes from their health and wellbeing activities, whether its better morale and engagement, a healthier more inclusive workplace culture, or lower sickness absence. * The results speak for themselves, but we could do more.

And for this, I return to the tool of coaching and how it can help.  My focus is on the causes of mental illness and stress in the workplace.  CIPD’s respondents noted the following causes of stress and mental health issues at work:

• 37% of respondents said that stress-related absence had increased in the last year.
• 60% of respondents said heavy workload is the top cause of stress,
• 41% of respondents noted management style as a cause,
• With 60% of respondents reporting an increase in common mental health conditions among employees. *

These are some high percentages and it’s clear that although some work has been done to start the process of change in how we look at mental illness in the workplace there is still more that needs to be done.  I suggest that more support needs to be given to managers and team leaders to reinforce the information, policies, and activities already in place, where they exist, or to create these where they don’t.

However, the power of coaching is in its ability to help managers and leaders change both their thought patterns (mindset) and their behaviours (responses to staff and situations).  Much of the time there is a gap between the theory of what one knows and the practicality or methods of knowing how one applies that information in a manner that is more effective, on a daily basis.

Coaching is a motivating ‘how-to’ tool which is comparatively cost-effective and long-lasting when used well. As coaching is centred around the individual, it identifies and focuses on the development requirements of that person, providing specific guidance which at this level is entirely specific.  Coaching will help to reduce both the stress of the manager and staff member through the approach of the former. Coaching will help managers to engage their objective and reflective abilities for the benefits of the organisation and themselves.

A management coaching culture, which in practical terms requires the creation of a coaching approach to an organisation’s management style is what is needed.  This overall management strategy will work to ensure that a well-being strategy is maintained, respected, long-lasting, and more importantly, sustained from the top down.

We have all gone through huge changes in recent months that have impacted on all areas of our lives and has brought about what will be long-lasting changes.  Many have had to decide how to work from home, how to manage distance working staff, how to become more aware of equality issues, and how to quickly adjust to maintaining their effectiveness and efficiency in this new environment almost immediately.  And I believe that there is much more change to come. This type of pressure requires additional support for those responsible to take an organisation or business forward now. And organisations and leaders have a heightened responsibility for care.

Each manager or member of staff will not require the assistance of psychological support to deal with the wellbeing and stress-related issues they face.  Most will benefit from a less intrusive approach such as that of a professional, experienced, skilled, and knowledgeable management or leadership coach to help them to quickly adjust their mindset and decision-making style to create behaviour patterns that support their staff and the new workplace expectations.

Research shows successful organisations see the benefits of coaching for their managers because of the positive widespread impact this has on the organisation. As we step into this new norm being created, great workplace well-being and mental health strategy will be one of the benefits that job seekers look for.  Those organisations that offer external (objective) coaching as a workplace benefit will be the ones that will draw the best in the field.

In today’s world, the best employers offer more than a good salary.

 

 

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* Source:

• CIPD Health and Well-being Report March 2020 health-and-well-being-2020-report_tcm18-73967
• CIPD Health and Well-being at Work Survey 2020 https://www.cipd.co.uk/Images/infographic-2020_tcm18-40892.pdf