I recently wrote a guest post for Alison Chisnell @AlisonChisnell – on her HR Juggler blog, which you can read here
What I didn’t write in that post was that the manager who signed off the funds to enable me to have the counselling I needed had his own battle with mental health just a couple of years later. I remember his marriage broke up and he was separated from his children. He was unable to get the situation resolved, and took his own life. He obviously had no-one in the higher echelons of the company who cared about him as much as he cared about his people.
I hadn’t made this connection until I was listening to the two very courageous people who stood up at the #HR4MH meeting that Alison Chisnell kindly hosted last night, and spoke about their personal battles with bi-polar disorder. It was a privilege to hear the personal stories of both John @Projectlibero and Charlotte @Bipolarblogger yesterday evening and I salute them for having the courage to come forward and speak so frankly to a room full of people.
On the train home after the event I was thinking about how this sort of thing might be dealt with in an ‘ideal workplace’. I remember way back in the late 1970’s (yes, I am that old!) when I had my own battle with cancer how my employer kept my job open for me for as long as I needed them to, even though I had only been there for six months when I was diagnosed. I wondered what sort of decision might be made, thirty years later, if someone had a mental health issue and needed time off work. Have we really moved on, have we stayed still, or have we gone backwards?
I came to the conclusion that if a manager (and not just an HR manager) was fulfilling their role well, and providing the practical and emotional support to their people to enable them to give of their best, that they would be asking the question ‘How are you?’ more often, and not just ‘How are you getting on with your objectives/targets?’
A change in behaviour from managers at all levels is essential if we are to help people with mental health issues to really feel part of our teams.
Here are links to websites where you can get ideas and inspiration on how to improve the way you support people with mental health issues in your workplace:
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