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what's it like to work where you work
school somewhere else busy right
everybody being asked to do more with
less hands up who gets their work email
on a device at home hands up who sleeps
in the same room as their that device
hands up who who works evenings and
weekends
just to do more work the next day hands
up who who sometimes wakes up in the
night thinks about work can't switch off
speaks to the phone before their family
in the morning ah yeah early signs of
stress okay sorry to tell you hands up
who is so busy they they have their
breakfast on the toilet no good
just my brother-in-law then that's
reassuring but but most of the things
that I talked about are communists the
new norm before we leave the house in
the morning our rucksack is is half full
it's no surprise then that that the
third to half of us will experience some
kind of stress anxiety and depression
during our working lives those those
conditions are common and they are
responsible for 30% more absence than
anything else including musculoskeletal
and physical industry in injury 30% more
and yet we we struggle in which we
struggle on CI review workplaces and how
they support people or not on mental
health and I've interviewed more than
170 people and looked at the information
from 15,000 survey respondents and a
mental health is complex but this much I
know people who have poor mental health
they want to be at work on the whole and
they struggle in to do that when they're
at work they they have difficulty
concentrating communicating juggling
tasks and they get cranky sometimes with
the customers and colleagues but they
can't speak up to their manager the
manager doesn't know how to have a
conversation the employee doesn't know
if the manager is going to support them
or stigmatize them or say well we're all
stress mate or manage them out of the
organization so our employee who wants
to be at work doesn't know the support
choices can't have a conversation about
it they feel significant stigma
sometimes from the organization
sometimes from themselves and it just
rumbles on right they they don't take
the time off that they need or if they
do they give a different reason for
their absence and here's one of the
reasons was because we just don't talk
enough about mental health in our
workplaces until
past breaking point how do we get to
this well I thought we were all supposed
to be resilient these days in the
workplace we are supposed to have
brazilians how do you get resilience
well you ought to have a good work-life
balance that's the first thing okay life
life life the field of flowers that I
skip through to and from work right if
your life's like anything like my life
it contains things like separation and
grief and dental bills and add peas that
get stuck up your child's nostril and
exhaust that fall off your car the day
after the MOT but we we soldier on my
rucksack now three-quarters full we were
taught to and we go into work and when
we shouldn't really be there
presenteeism
it's called and presenteeism costs the
workplace 1.8 times that of absenteeism
being away but we don't even get that
bit right because we go in and we say to
our manager I think it might be
struggling it might be stress anxiety
depression they get then always good I
think
well you must go and see your doctor and
so we go off to the doctor and we say hi
I'm really struggling I'm losing sleep I
can't talk to my manager I'm having my
breakfast on the toilet and the doctor
says well if we're in this country
you're going mmm that's interesting I'm
gonna sign you off for two weeks it's
the first NHS response okay it's
well-meaning and I get that and
sometimes time time off from from work
is a really good thing and seeing our
doctor is a good thing but it's not the
first place for that conversation
it took an employment lawyer in King's
Lynn in Norfolk 28 seconds to be signed
off from work having entered the
consultation room it's not the first
place for that so you leave the surgery
with a with a label a diagnosis and
you're staring down a packet of pills
and daytime television and it's it's
really scary I've been there
and and if we just so quick to disengage
people we need to be having these
conversations in the workplace rather
than disengaging and let me tell you
about disengaging and I know illustrate
the business case for this so I I
interviewed somebody called Nick was a
senior manager global firm constantly
exceeding expectations at appraisal
because there are appraisals remember to
get more money we have to do more work
than we should be doing different point
but anyway so Nick Nick's mom died then
he had his two or three days
compassionate leave and he came back to
the organization and he tried to
organize himself some flexi time work
more during the week have a bit of more
time off from fridays and his manager
said no on the basis that and I quote
everyone will want it Nick's a good
lovely guy a really lovely guy and
really did it him but of course you know
he was unable to talk to his manager
they fell out he went to the doctor he
got lots more time off but this was
sickness and he disengaged and he never
really came back to the organization
properly unions go involved cost a lot
of money and was entirely avoidable
Sally's story
Sally is or sell his dad died as she was
working for international charity again
you get successful manager and her
manager said Sally I don't think you're
right I think you need some more time
off I think you you know we can do some
work from home and a phased return and
you might be surprised here that Sally
still works for that organization it's
still a high flier
okay and she's an advocate of the
employer so had they had the global firm
that Nick worked for acted like the
charity it would have saved itself many
thousands of pounds okay so what should
we do
leaders
had teachers project managers whoever
wherever you lead you need to talk about
mental health in the workplace when you
speak other people listen okay the the
conversation the positive language it
cascades down an organization you don't
make more people unwell by speaking
about mental health you give them the
opportunity to seek help sooner remember
Nick remember Sally leaders who talk
about mental health universally gain
respect same with managers managers you
need to talk about mental health in the
workplace and you need to train managers
train and train them to spot the signs
and the symptoms know what to say know
when to say it know where to shut up
know when to listen know how to have a
human conversation if you're a manager
use this rule of thumb be the manager
you'd like to have if you were
experiencing stress anxiety depression
HR an occupational health I can I can
pretty much guarantee that your schools
and and your workplaces policies on
stress anxiety depression or absence and
and those sorts of things are probably
too long full of jargon self-serving
same with the the the absence procedure
right they when somebody calls in sick
on that first day as a golden
conversation for a dialogue on mental
health who's listening who's writing
this down
where is it going who's offering support
and this is the same thing for your
people right you've got it you've got it
offer support to your people
therapy is fantastic stuff but through
the NHS it's gonna take you eight weeks
three months six lessons of therapy
three hundred pounds
what's that compared to a great bit of
time off in it and that disengaging it's
off your therapy the other thing we do
with people when they join in a
workplace is we teach them how to lift a
box which is great and thank you for
that
but why don't we talk to them about how
to have a conversation with a colleague
okay call it when they're struggling
okay so if you were out there and you
see somebody struggling then say
something say how are you my cup of tea
if you think you're struggling that you
should say something this is not just a
a a once and done conversation it's all
just a poster on the back of the toilet
door it's a camp it's a cultural shift
and it takes time okay but the wonderful
thing is that everybody can do this okay
what you need is a tray of sandwiches
and a packet of post-it notes and a
bunch of people who've been off while
they've been working for you okay
they'll give you all the information
that you need okay you could you could
partner with a charity like mindful
employer if you like you could hire a
consultant if you must but you really
ought to be listening making adjustments
changes and writing this down the Health
and Safety Executive expect you to be
doing this already by the way right in
the future would be we'll be talking
about some of the things that have been
mentioned today mindfulness meditation
in meetings virtual reality glasses to
Train managers reporting on on workplace
illness as well as injury little robots
that pop up on your screen to ask you
how you are psychotherapy through our
mobile phone
those things are being trialed right now
they're just around the corner but
here's the thing
you're people don't need to throw loads
of money of this what they want from you
is your commitment that they can speak
safely about mental health I said you
all you all have the resources to do
this look around you this is what mental
health is it's not just the one in 103
we all have mental health all the time
the hands up who'd like their employer
to do more on mental health right as an
employer all you need to do is give your
people permission to speak safely and be
prepared to listen thank you
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you