Organisations are complex ecosystems where humans are expected to perform, day in and day out. Below the surface of hustle, meetings, projects, and deadlines, there is a hidden dynamic that impacts well-being and performance: the poor mental health of employees.
Everyone turns up to work with a backstory. Traumatic events, both one-off and prolonged experiences, profoundly affect and exacerbate poor mental health. In recent times, we have shared the trauma of COVID-19, a collective tragedy that had a profound effect on the way we all work. This event has activated the past trauma of many individuals.
Companies are keen for us to bring “our whole self to work”. This is an ambitious and aspiring goal. It is also unrealistic for many of us. Often, I would rather turn up for work with parts of me well and truly hidden. Well-meaning team meetings where you are asked to score yourself out of 10 in terms of how you are feeling arouse my suspicion. Does anyone really want to know? What would you say if I said 1? How would you handle that answer?
Many of us choose to remain silent about our trauma and our mental health challenges. Stigma remains a major issue. In recent research, 70% of Australians said that they would not tell their employer about a mental health condition, and 7% felt that workplaces do not provide a safe environment for people with mental health issues (Wayward, 2023). Struggles with mental health remain silent for many, despite their best intentions.
The workplace has fundamentally changed. The people who lead and work in them have fundamentally changed too. Talking to leaders of all backgrounds I find that many of them feel completely overwhelmed. Many younger employees are turned off traditional leadership models. They want more from simply visible hierarchical leaders who tell them what to do and how to do it. They want leaders who have a genuine interest in them as living, breathing humans with needs and desires. Leaders who really want to know if they are OK. Younger workers are typically looking for collaboration, the opportunity to learn, and their values reflected in their leaders. They want authentic leaders who ask the right questions, care about their people, and do not rely on the annual focus of well-being from the People and Culture team and the cupcakes in the kitchen.
Add to this a generation that has grown up with and has mental health literacy in discussing topics such as trauma, ADHD, and boundaries, and it is clear that many leaders are struggling to meet these requirements. In the fight for top talent, it is worthy of consideration.
Responsibility for employee mental health is shifting from individuals to organisations. We are being asked to actively promote and protect the mental health of our people and the recent positive duty legislation means that there is now a legal responsibility to create a psychologically safe workplace. The assumption is therefore shifting from performance issues to mental health.
Post-COVID, leaders are being asked a lot. On top of driving productivity, bringing people back in the office, keeping their people engaged, reducing expensive turnover, leading high-performing teams, coaching individuals, and hiring the top talent, they are now expected to be counsellors too. It's tough out there.
No amount of ninety-minute training sessions on employee well-being is going to meaningfully shift the dial. A great deal of support is required for leaders to gain the skills and confidence to have the appropriate conversations and not forget their own needs. There is some great work out there, but the problem runs deep. EAP (Employee Assistance Programs) are notoriously underutilised, averaging around 5% of employees benefiting annually in Australia, although, in many companies, this is woefully less. There is a profound lack of trust and a fear of stigma.
The potential solution is therefore much more radical. When the costs of untreated mental health conditions are considered, a new mindset may start to emerge. PWC and Beyond Blue (2022) estimate that the cost for Australian businesses is $10.9 billion a year, made up of numerous factors, including absenteeism and compensation claims.
This makes the suggestion by some of investing in in-house counsellors worthy of consideration. This would serve as a front-line measure to normalise mental health in the workplace.
Importantly, organisations would benefit from senior executives reflecting on their own mental health and getting comfortable sharing their own struggles. In one global organisation where I worked, senior executives would regularly share their stories with the business in addition to external speakers. This was well received and meant that mental health was freely discussed and de-stigmatised. I have never forgotten the impact. In many ways, the more senior someone is the more important the reflection on their mental health and trauma. Otherwise, there is a serious threat of the resulting behaviours infecting everyone else in the organisation. Elevating mental health issues isn’t just a matter of compassion, it’s a strategic imperative that can drastically bolster long-term productivity.
Ask yourself: What could your organisation achieve if you provided a truly supportive environment?
Julia is a senior capability leader. She has a passion for employee well-being, including mental health, and is currently studying for a Master's in Counselling at the University of Canberra.
Julia is based in the beautiful Noosa Hinterland in Australia and has held Learning and Development and commercial positions in the UK, Europe, and the APAC region.
When Julia is not working or studying, she likes to spend time on her property in Queensland and hang out with her rescue dog, Ruby.
