It’s good to talk: dealing with mental health issues

Mental health at work is no longer a taboo subject, but companies must develop better support systems for their employees – with board-level support. Tracey Gee and Becky Clarke report.

The engineering profession, among others, has seen a step change in the way mental wellbeing is perceived in the workplace. The topic is gaining momentum, cascading from the boardroom to office floors and construction sites.

Progress has been made, but we have a long way to go before the engineering profession – and society more widely – begins to see mental wellbeing in the same light as physical health and safety.

Mental health issues are among the leading causes of ill-health and disability worldwide. There are about 450 million people currently suffering from mental illness. One in four people in the past year has experienced a common mental issue and sadly, nine out of ten of those have, at some point, experienced stigma and discrimination.

The engineering sector has its own specific challenges, such as multi-tiered supply chains, complex organisations such as joint ventures, partnerships and alliances, expectations for employees to be co-located away from their home organisation’s offices and quite often their line managers.

What’s more, although the engineering industry is doing a lot to tackle gender diversity, it can’t ignore the fact that it remains a male-dominated profession and sadly suicide is now the leading cause of death in men between 15 and 49.

The combination of these factors has led many organisations to look at how they can develop better support mechanisms for their employees.

At MWH, we want our employees to work in a supportive, open and trusting environment, free of stigma and discrimination. We have found that creating an atmosphere in which mental health can be discussed frankly and openly is proving successful.

An important element is the training, preparation and coaching of leaders, managers and line managers so they have confidence to have sensitive conversations with employees. They will also be adequately equipped to identify the warning signs of mental ill health, and signpost employees to the most appropriate support and resources.

This upskilling of leaders has been vital to the successful running of “open space sessions”. These are small groups in which employees have the opportunity to talk openly with leaders about how the business can do things better when it comes to addressing mental health in the workplace.

As well as these sessions, it is vital to give employees a variety of easy-to-access, useful resources on identifying and managing mental health problems. Plus guidance on how to look after your mental wellbeing through techniques such as mindfulness.

Measurement is also a crucial instrument here. To gauge the effectiveness of an organisations’ wellbeing programme, deploying a metric analysis of a range of factors is a necessity. These might include tracking sick days due to anxiety, stress and depression; employee engagement surveys and using company-wide statistics from health and wellbeing assessments. This rigorous approach will help companies monitor employee wellbeing and elevate it to a leadership performance indicator.

To give mental wellbeing programmes more impetus, a holistic, interconnected approach is required. The backing of your board is important to achieve buy-in across the organisation. While some may assume that these sorts of initiatives should be the preserve of HR, by implementing it as an operational programme you can achieve a greater impact across the business.

If designed well, these programmes can be rewarding for employees, and good for business. But fundamentally, this is about creating an industry that is more understanding of mental health issues, and prepared to create a workforce that is more mentally resilient to the pressures it operates under.