This guidance, People managers’ guide to mental health, aims to help managers facilitate conversations about stress and poor mental health.
It also provides information on how to spot the warning signs of poor mental health and how to offer the right support early on.
The guide was first produced in 2011, but has now been revised and updated in line with developments in both employment and how organisations manage mental health at work.
It follows recent CIPD research which found that less than one in three organisations (32%) train line managers to support staff with poor mental health.
According to the professional body, mental ill health is now the primary cause of long-term sickness absence for over one in five (22%) UK organisations.
And a recent Mind survey of over 44,000 employees also found that only two in five (42%) felt their manager would be able to spot the signs they were struggling with poor mental health.
Last month, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, launched a new Mental Health at Work website, which aims to help companies improve staff wellbeing.
“Mental health is still the elephant in the room in most workplaces, and a culture of silence can have a damaging impact on a business as well as individuals,” said the CIPD’s Senior Employment Relations Adviser, Rachel Suff.
“This can include an escalation of someone’s condition as well as higher levels of sickness absence, presenteeism, turnover, conflict, and disengagement. There’s also the risk of potential legal action from employees who feel discriminated against,” added Ms Suff.
“The role of line managers in employee well-being is vital. They are often the first port of call for someone needing help, and are most likely to see warning signs of poor mental health among employees. With the right capabilities and tools in place, they will have the ability and confidence to have sensitive conversations, intervene when needed, and signpost to the right support when needed.
“The positive impact that this can have on people’s well-being is enormous, but the business will also reap the benefits of happier, healthier, more engaged and productive employees.”
The revised guidance is available to read here.
In this episode of the Safety & Health Podcast, ‘Burnout, stress and being human’, Heather Beach is joined by Stacy Thomson to discuss burnout, perfectionism and how to deal with burnout as an individual, as management and as an organisation.
We provide an insight on how to tackle burnout and why mental health is such a taboo subject, particularly in the workplace.
Suddenly there are ‘hundreds of guides’ all with varying information in. Can we avoid having hundreds (I know the publications generally make a lot of money) and just get everyone to agree to work from the same high-quality document?