1.2 Mental health and wellbeing

Figure _unit8.2.2 Figure 2 Prioritising the mental health and wellbeing of employees is now more important than ever

Show description|Hide description

A pair of hands cupped together holding a smiling face drawn on a piece of card

Figure 2 Prioritising the mental health and wellbeing of employees is now more important than ever

As well as changing our work practices, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on health, and issues surrounding the mental health and wellbeing of employees are now more important than ever for leaders to prioritise.

Burnout has become a common term, both in the context of leaders and followers. Kumar (2018) describes burnout as ‘a psychological response to exposure to chronic stressors at work […] characterised by high levels of emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and reduced personal accomplishment’. Kumar goes on to describe the following signs of burnout:

• Affective signals – irritability, being oversensitive, lessened emotional empathy with clients, increased anger

• Cognitive signals – cynical and dehumanizing perceptions of clients; negativism / pessimism with respect to clients; labelling clients in derogatory ways

• Behavioural signals – violent outbursts; irritability toward clients; interpersonal, marital and family conflicts; social isolation and withdrawal; responding to clients in a mechanical manner

• Motivational signals – loss of interest; indifference with respect to clients.

Note – physical signs are excluded as they can be observed ‘only on an individual level’.

Using written vignettes outlining various scenarios, Pischel et al. (2022) reviewed leaders’ awareness of the warning signals of emerging depression and burnout and found that ‘even under favorable conditions, only about half of the leaders recognized warning signals as a health risk.’ They also found that ‘leaders showed lower awareness during times of high stress and low autonomy and when followers displayed less clear warning signals.’ Findings suggested that leaders need to understand how their awareness may be impeded and that training on common mental health disorders and early warning sign recognition may be valuable.

Wright (2023) suggests the following strategies to prevent burnout, in yourself and your employees:

• Encourage an open and honest workplace culture – it will help you and your employees connect with each other in a more positive way.
• Put specific HR policies in place – make sure you manage workloads to a sustainable level and your employees have enough time to relax and recover after a busy, stressful day at work.
• Notice changes in working patterns – keep an eye on whether team members are sending emails outside work hours.
• Be aware of workloads and deadlines for team members – make sure workloads are manageable and notice when employees are asking for help with their work.
• Notice behaviour changes – be aware of mood swings, energy levels and how employees are interacting with other team members.
• Balance work allocation – make sure you allocate work proportionately.
• Think about giving back time – if an employee has had a significant workload for a period of time, try to give them back some time with leave or by working fewer hours.
• Signpost to support – make sure your employees know where to find support.
• Practice what you preach – as a leader, you need to model the behaviour you want your employees to follow, so don’t be the one working at all hours and expecting responses out of office hours.
• Look after your own wellbeing – remember your team are likely to follow your example.