Company Culture
listening skills. In fact, most of the time
we are “listening to respond”. We are
thinking of solutions, relating to our own
experience or judging.
» » Respond by using open, clarifying
questions e.g. “Why do you think you
feel that way?”
» » Summarise what they have said.
» » Be silent apart from using sounds
and body language to show we are
listening.
A few rules for wellbeing
» » Work – find work you love which plays
to your strengths. The more time we
spend operating within our strengths,
with a slight stretch, the happier we
are.
» » Rest – no matter how much we love
our work; we need to find ways to allow
ourselves to recover. This might be
being in nature, having a hobby, taking
a break from technology, spending
time with family and friends. If your
work doesn’t allow you to take a break,
think about how you can organise it so
that it does and have the confidence to
discuss this with your manager.
» » Sleep – now considered perhaps the
most important factor in wellbeing,
the majority of us are chronically sleep
deprived. Regular routines which
promote sleep hygiene are the key
here.
» » Eating – cook from scratch as much
as possible and eat a rainbow of foods
– there is increasing evidence of a
strong link between the gut and the
brain.
» » Exercise – find practical ways of
incorporating it into your daily routine
– whether getting off the bus a stop
early or walking the dog.
» » Manage your thinking – be aware your
disastrous thoughts are not the truth;
question them and find evidence to
the contrary. Gain perspective – will
this issue matter in six months’ time?
44 — November
I
f you think someone is struggling
mentally, what steps should you take to
tackle the problem?
Beach, whose company trains
businesses, adds: “In our business we
try to train managers to support staff
and whilst instinctively many have the
right answers, they may lack confidence
because the conversation feels intrusive,
they are worried about saying the wrong
thing or ending up in an employment
tribunal”.
Many of us don’t realise is that as
soon as someone says they have been
diagnosed with a mental health issue,
including stress, they may fall under
the disability discrimination aspects
protected by the Equalities Act 2010.
IT CAN BE AS EASY AS ABC
A – Assess
» » When: How critical is the situation –
can it wait for my next one-to-one or
not?
» » What: is my relationship with that
person like? What have I noticed I
need to talk to them about?
» » Where: Obviously it needs to be
somewhere private. Think about how
to sit – opposite with a table between
you forces eye contact which can be
uncomfortable – sit at right angles.
B – Be present
Very few of us are born with excellent
C – Co-create a plan
This may not be appropriate on a first
meeting. You may just want to tease out
as many of the issues as you can, but at
the very least you should arrange a follow
up. Ask them what you think will help
them? Provide some resources or ideas
– this might be the GP or the Employee
Assistance Programme.
Involve HR - When someone has been
diagnosed by a professional as struggling
with their mental health, inform your
HR team. They may have specialists
and will also advise on what reasonable
adjustments should be considered.
Making a note – It is a good idea to
make a dated note to yourself to say you
had the conversation and what came out
of it.
Reasonable adjustments are king –
Not being seen to consider appropriate
reasonable adjustments is often where
organisations lose in a tribunal situation.
Reasonable adjustments make sense for
both the individual (who wants to be in
work) and the organisation (who wants
them there). These may include different
hours of work, fewer responsibilities and
working from home.
Confidentiality – ideally you shouldn’t
tell the individual that the conversation
will remain confidential if you are their
manager as this is untrue. It is, however,
good practise to keep all reasons for
sickness absence confidential from the
team because otherwise everyone knows
they are off for a more sensitive reason.
Humanity – We all have hard times
and that person may well have done great
work for you in the past and now they
need your support.