Managing the whole person: A chat with Carol Galloway - Manager Psychological Services
“You can’t manage something you’re not aware of,” Carol observes as we begin our conversation.
Carol continues, pointing out that “every manager is expected to manage the people in their team, but few managers receive training in the disabling psychological issues that affect employees at different times in their lives.”
“In a sense, managers are being asked to do a job they haven’t been trained for,” Carol explains, “and yet the pivotal role that managers play in today’s workforce was one of the key observations from the recent conference.”
“We have lots of information about managing physical well being, but information about managing emotional and psychological wellbeing is not well established yet.
“As an example, in New Zealand, ACC provide excellent back-to-work plans for physical injury. However, apart from some mindful individuals that offer re-integration plans, there’s little available for people with psychological injuries to support a structured return to the workplace.”
Attending the Annual EAP Association of Australia conference in August also gave Carol the opportunity to make some comparisons between New Zealand and some of our international counterparts in terms of best practice in this area.
Psychological wellbeing and awareness in New Zealand
“New Zealand is slightly behind in our approach to psychological wellbeing. We’re behind in legislation. Australia, for example, recognises vicarious trauma in their health and safety legislation and while this is not the case in New Zealand, this legislation is currently being looked at.
“New Zealanders still often use the ‘number 8 fencing wire’ mentality for resolving workplace problems. In high-risk environments such as construction sites, electricity companies and other physically intensive workplaces, health and safety legislation has driven a change in behaviour – especially around physical safety.
“It seems likely,” Carol explains, “that further legislation will be needed to encourage better support for the changes in psychological wellbeing that go hand in hand with physical trauma – the psychological stressors that in some cases may lead to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.”
Carol adds that one of the difficulties in measuring psychological wellbeing is that its not easily quantifiable statistically - other than through fewer sick days taken, increased productivity, fewer injuries and that ‘felt sense of wellbeing’ in organisations where employees experience high productivity and a sense of value.
“Emotional and psychological wellbeing often provide indirect affects on the drivers of productivity and risk. The key issues are always awareness and education - Professor Gordon Parker’s presentation, from the Black Dog Institute, on mood disorders reinforced this.
“Often the staff members themselves aren’t able to articulate what it is that’s troubling them, or why they’re struggling the way they are. It’s not just a management issue.
“Short educative programmes that offer information on mood disorders are a practical strategy for assisting both managers and employees. This sort of proactive approach works well alongside other skilled support programmes such as EAP counselling.
Providing support as a manager
“It can be as simple as saying, ‘I’m noticing your behaviour has been a little different over the last few days - are you okay? Perhaps having a chat with someone about things might help work it out,’ and then making support available.”
“This is something that smaller organisations can often do really well. Often without the resources of larger organisations, employers are more likely to know their employees well and will be in a position to naturally encourage them to see someone while covering the initial costs.”
“The small cost of three sessions with a trained counsellor is insignificant next to what it may begin to cost if left unattended.”
“A particular crisis or point of stress can act as the trigger that releases an array of physical responses…we become more prone to illness, back pain, and the flu. These things are often symptomatic of not being as well as you could be.”
“When I first began in my role at Seed. I had managers ringing up at their wits end because someone wasn’t performing. Then, as they were beginning the disciplinary process, they’d find the person was diagnosed with depression.”
“It’s not that we shouldn’t seek to manage the behaviour of psychologically or emotionally unwell employees.
“Managers need a functioning worker and, at the end of the day, they’re paying for a functioning worker - but if you rely on those sort of processes without anything else, you’re likely to find it does not address the underlying causal issues...and disciplinary processes are extremely costly resource-wise.
“It’s a difficult area for managers to cope well in.”
Returning to the EAPAA conference, Carol indicates there were some good examples of what some organisations were putting in place to support these issues and promote psychological wellbeing.
As Carol explains, “Deborah Morrison’s presentation from the Australian Taxation Office was another highlight. They have taken a carefully thought out approach to providing employee assistance to all levels of staff across the entire organisation.
“In its infancy it’s intent is to offer an integrated health and safety programme to all staff using several different mechanisms from wellbeing programmes to counselling sessions. This is an effective approach to wellbeing where some measurements are showing results after a short period of time,” Carol explains.
“It’s very much in line with the sort of approach Seed recommends.”
In Closing…
Psychological wellbeing is about caring for understanding people as an integrated whole. It’s more than just engaging their physical needs.
There’s a lot you can do in a workplace to promote and maintain psychological wellbeing. And the proactive steps you take in this area can help prevent an enormous range of issues, such as those discussed here – issues that have significant and direct affects on productivity and engagement.
If you’d like to learn more about this area or the ways in which Seed can help your promote psychological wellbeing in your organisation just let us know.
