Managing Employees Involves Something More than Getting Work Done

Encourage but Don't Pamper A Distressed Employee

A Little Push from the Employer does the Job

Parents play a pivotal role in bringing up children at home, teachers occupy primary roles at school in molding a child and once these kids grow up and reach adulthood, they begin depending on their employers for guidance, channelizing their work and climbing up the workforce. Talent, time and smartness are certain characteristics that help an individual succeed in his/her workplace which is further ameliorated by a thoughtful, supportive and just employer.
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Workplace Culture
Boasting about working in a multinational company, food and medical perks, wearing a posh attire to workplace, partying during weekends and eating out from McDonald or Burger King is the current trend. Our bank jobs, teaching professions, public sector company offices and other state/central government jobs have their own pros and cons but at any time pros outweighed cons. There were not many studies about employee depression or employer thoughtfulness when these types of jobs dominated the market. Once IT sector boomed in India and MNCs invaded our markets, individuals’ health is at stake in many cases.

Presently, almost 1 in 6 employees is experiencing mental health problems such as anxiety, stress and depression which puts an individual’s performance at stake. An organization is not built of bricks and cements but of people and workforce. With employees existing as the pillars of an organization, we can assure the success of a company only when its staff are healthy, focused and with a positive frame of mind. Every organization wishes for smart employers who take authority in supporting employees suffering from mental stress and help them outgrow the problem in due course of time. Such kind of support decides how quickly and efficiently the employee can bounce back with improved performance and willpower. For a quick guide on decreasing depression and outgrowing stress, try the tips from www.firsteatright.com that are practical and also give you positive results.

Fiction or Fact?
Employers supporting employees and helping them perform better has been a topic of discussion for decades together, but a new study has taken it to the next level and proven it to a certain extent. The study insists on the fact that a supportive employer might prove useful in helping employees with depression miss fewer days at office. While previous studies reinstated the fact that depression among employees increased economic losses at workplace, the present study focuses on the reason behind this.

Researchers at the London School of Economics and Political science analyzed data of 16,000 employees and managers from 15 different countries. Questions were thrown open to the employers on how they handled mental health concerns and how often employees with depression took time off their job owing to their health issue. In countries where managers accepted on avoiding talking to employees with depression, these workers missed on an additional four days of work whereas in places where employers were genuinely interested in talking about mental health problems with their employees, there were less cases of missed days of work recorded. Available resources also pave way for mental health policies to support employees suffering from depression which the study confirmed-countries with a lower GDP saw an increased number of leave days from employees. Under GDP-controlled environments, the research proved that countries with supportive managers witnessed decreased days of leave despite a lower or higher GDP.

Organization Value Besides Value for Money
Standing by an employee during times of distress not only saves the company the loss of a valuable staff but also proves the organization’s value. Any company thrives on trust and integrity. An employee’s loyalty and commitment towards the organization depends on the organization’s support it extends towards its workforce. Some general tips for managing depressed employees include:

1. Organizations must clearly define as its clause or express it to employees during induction programs that mental health will be treated in the same way as physical health.
2. Never treat a stressed employee one step below other employees doubting his/her capacity. Don’t keep them idle without any assignments fearing that they might fall sick. Contrarily, assign responsibilities and support their work.
3. Maintain confidentiality and take an oath to never divulge details of any team member who suffers from mental depression. This makes others in the team differentiate the person and pushing him/her into further depression
4. Don’t pamper depressed employees nor ignore them. Treat them as you would treat any other employee but accommodate their special needs to enable their best performance at workplace. For instance, some employees might require eating an early lunch due to medication requirements while some might require working part time until they improve in their treatment part.
5. Depressed employees might isolate themselves from the team and stop communicating too. Properly manage such employees, set your expectations openly and maybe you can suggest some programs that might help the depressed employee outgrow the need for isolation. Also, depressed employees might be brilliant workers who need nothing more than a little push to shine in life.

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