Tips for managers

Guidelines for managers

• 1. Increase your own knowledge about mental health and be aware of the support available

  This will help you to better understand what someone with a mental health condition may be experiencing and how you can best support them. Knowing the signs and symptoms of conditions like anxiety and depression will also help you to identify early if anyone in your team may be struggling so you can help them as a manager, and suggest appropriate supports within the business (e.g. wellbeing staff, peer support program) and externally (e.g. Beyond Blue Support Service, GP) that they can access.

  Further reading and resources

  Beyond Blue's Mental health awareness online training program is a great way to start increasing your knowledge of mental health conditions and to learn what you can do to support others.

• 2. Educate your staff about mental health in the workplace

  Educating and training your staff in mental health conditions gives them the information and tools to better understand if they are starting to struggle, and to keep an eye out if any of their colleagues, friends or family are as well. It can also give them the skills and confidence to approach someone that they are worried about. 

  Education and training helps to decrease stigma around mental health in the workplace, which means staff are more likely to speak up and seek help early, before symptoms get too severe.

  You can do this by providing educational information and/or posters in the workplace, delivering a series of short educational talks, such as the tool box talks, listening to personal stories as a team or undertaking a face to face or online training course.

• 3. Talk openly about mental health at work and encourage others to do the same

  Sharing any personal experiences about mental health can make a real difference in creating a working environment where people are comfortable seeking support if they need it. Talking about mental wellbeing the same way you would physical health is a good place to start.

• 4. Provide support to any team member who is struggling with their mental health

  The support of a manager is very important for someone going through a tough time, and can mean the difference between that person being able to stay in their role or leaving the workplace. Supporting someone to stay at work has a number of benefits, for both the employee and the business.

  It might feel like a lot of responsibility, but you don't need to be a mental health expert to be understanding and provide support. Every workplace has a legal responsibility to make reasonable adjustments so that a person with a mental health conditions can remain at work, provided the person can meet the core requirements of the job. This may include offering flexible working hours, adjusting the person's workload, and providing additional guidance and support.

• 5. Communicate regularly with your team

  Communicating regularly with your staff and ensuring they can provide feedback helps to keep staff engaged and provides opportunities for any questions.

  It is important to make team goals clear to your staff and communicate key achievements, activities, issues and developments. The communication should occur in a timely manner and consideration should be given about the best ways it should be done. Communicating important issues are best undertaken face-to-face to ensure open discussions can take place and questions and concerns can be raised immediately. For other activities and announcements a staff newsletter or email might suffice.

  Remember that a big part of effective communication is listening. Make sure you listen to any feedback your staff might have and take that feedback into consideration.

• 6. Encourage respectful behaviour and communication by team members

  It is critical to set an expectation that all employees respect and listen to each other at all times and that you, as a manager and leader, model this behaviour day-to-day.

  This may mean you need to educate your team about bullying behaviour, so they understand the difference between appropriate and inappropriate behaviours.

  Further reading and resources

  Guide for preventing and responding to workplace bullying (PDF, 30pg, 496KB)

• 7. Improve work design by addressing potential workplace stressors

  As a manager, there are many things you can do to address potential workplace stress in your team, including;

  • Regularly reviewing workloads, timelines and resources
  • Improve role clarity by ensuring your staff have well-defined roles and the expectations of them are clear
  • Provide adequate resources and training to your staff so they are able to perform their role confidently and competently

  Further reading and resources

  The Heads Up Managing Mental Health Risks at Work training helps managers and employees better understand how to minimise risks related to mental health.

• 8. Demonstrate healthy work habits

  Lead by example by striking a work-life balance on a day-to-day basis. This may include taking regular breaks, avoiding emailing and work calls outside of work hours and leaving on time. Encourage your staff to do the same.

  Managing can be demanding and challenging, so make sure you take time out to look after yourself. If your organisation has a Manager Assist Program (MAP), use this to assist you during stressful periods.

  Further reading and resources

  Taking care of your mental health in the workplace

• 9. Be an influencer

  Speak to your colleagues and senior leaders and encourage them to make mental health a priority in the workplace.

• 10. Work with your team to develop a plan

  Develop a plan with your team on how you can all work to create a more mentally healthy workplace. Visit the Strategies for healthy workplaces section of this website, or use the Heads Up action plan tool to assist you with this. Work with your team to identify priority areas that need attention and agree on actions that can be implemented to achieve your goals. There are loads of tool and resources on Heads Up that can help you with this.