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“IF YOU’RE NOT ACTUALLY
ASSESSING WHAT YOU NEED
AND WHERE YOU HAVE A GAP,
YOU MAY NOT BE SEEING
MUCH IMPACT WHEN YOU
ATTEMPT TO AFFECT CHANGE.”
– Sapna Mahajan, Director, Mental Health Prevention and
Promotion Initiatives, Mental Health Commission of Canada
quency or the duration of symptoms,” said
Baynton.
Training for managers and HR professionals
might include gaining a better
understanding of what makes for a psychologically
safe and supportive work environment,
or specific tactics for communicating
effectively with an employee who
may be unwell.
Research suggests the majority of managers
need and want that kind of training,
too. A 2012 Ipsos Reid survey found even
though 90 per cent of supervisors and
managers feel it’s important to improve
their emotional intelligence, two out of
three thought they’d need additional support
to do this more effectively and 60 per
cent said dealing with conflict is one of the
most stressful parts of their job.
“Often, one of the first things I hear
from people in management roles is that
they don’t know anything about mental
health,” said Mahajan. “And why should
they?” Managers are unlikely to have had
formal education in this area and might
find themselves in deep water when handling
a sensitive situation.
Hardaker, for one, leads sessions to help
managers understand how to communicate
effectively with an employee who
might be unwell.
“When you’re working with someone who
is experiencing the impact of a mental health
issue, it can be very difficult for that person
to answer questions and engage in typical
performance management discussions,” said
Hardaker. “The standard approach is: ‘This is
a problem. What are you going to do about
it?’ For someone having mental health issues,
that’s too short. So we build the capacity for
HR professionals and managers to slow the
conversation down so the employee feels
heard and understood. Then a manager can
ask, ‘What will you do to commit to your
own success?’”
HRPATODAY.CA ❚ JANUARY 2014 ❚ 23