Breakfast Forum newsletter – March 2009
How does your performance management system work for you? Is it fit for purpose and does it improve your results, or is it just an encumbrance to which your employees pay lip service? This will be discussed at our next Breakfast Forum on Friday 15 May (there is no forum in April due to the Easter break). Full details will appear in our April Newsletter.
The forum will be an opportunity to discuss and share your experiences with other employers in the informal setting of the Rose and Crown in Elham, while enjoying the pub’s excellent cooked breakfast.
Mental health at work was the topic at our last Breakfast Forum on 13 March. The discussion was led by consultant clinical psychologist LJ Conradie, Managing Director of Psicon, a Canterbury-based company that promotes psychological health and wellbeing.
In 2003/4 38.8 million working days were lost due to work-place injury and work-related ill health, according to an HSE report. Although musculoskeletal disorders are the most common type of work-related illness, mental ill health gives rise to more working days lost.
Some of the issues explored were:
When does pressure at work become stress?
What is the difference between anxiety and depression?
What impact is the current economic climate having on anxiety levels?
What role can training and communications play in improving the mental wellbeing of the workforce?
How good are employers at recognising, and tackling, mental problems?
Depression can be stress brought on by changed working conditions, which in turn can be wrongly labelled as bullying.
Employers can manage uncertainty caused by the economic climate by not underplaying difficult times and communicating early. This indicates that a problem is being tackled by the management and shared with the workforce.
Many different events and issues can have an effect on mental health and it is important to look at the support structure surrounding a person rather than automatically resorting to medication.
Factors that influence health and wellbeing at work are wide-ranging, from job satisfaction and perception of effectiveness, down to sleep and nutrition. Looking after the mental wellbeing of employees can increase productivity, lower staff turn-over and reduce long-term sickness and disability.
Forum members discussed how occupational health departments deal with mental health issues, the role and effectiveness of confidential counselling service offered by some employers, whether medical certification for stress is abused by employees, and the importance of regular stress risk assessments.
Recommendations for employers are for top management to be committed to mental health support; to have early referrals, processing, treatment and rehabilitation; to communicate dynamics, treatment and progress; to involve occupational health, managers and ideally GPs; to aim at prevention and develop training.
If you are interested in attending the next forum on 15 May, please contact anne@employment-relations.co.uk, tel: 01303 840001.
