Radio 1 and mental health

I have to take my hat off to BBC radio 1 and 1 Xtra for supporting mental health awareness with their news and Iplayer programmes this week.

Mental health issues have become much more prevalent over the last few years and the media have been a huge help. 

It has been 7 months since Mental Health Awareness week, this is an annual event, but the BBC have stepped up to raise awareness at a critical time of year.

I am sure more managers and owners than ever before are supporting their team members through times that are indescribably hard. Worst still we all know there are many people that cannot talk, and they suffer in silence.

What can a manager do to support good mental health?

At this time of year there are 2 things that stand out to me that I would be concerned about:

1. The team member who does not want to go to the Christmas party
2. The team member with holiday leave to be taken or the team member who has just taken almost all of it.

1.

In every practice there are team members who will get annoyed with the person who does not attend events, or go to team dinners / drinks. They say they will and then they back out at the last minute. The team take it personally and become annoyed with this person.

Take a moment to look deeper – is this person suffering with anxiety? The thought of being in a busy, crowded place could be overwhelming for them.

Ensure the team are not disgruntled and ensure the person who can’t come isn’t made to feel bad.

2.

It is always worrying to me when people take most of November / December off as they have so much holiday to take.

We are given 4 weeks holiday a year for a reason – we need it!

Those of us who are old enough to remember the 3 weeks a year system will be able to tell you that 3 weeks a year was not enough, and it was a real struggle!

My concern, is that team members who do not take frequent breaks will struggle and burn out.

As a manager or owner I would be looking at my teams holiday times and ensuring that everyone has frequent holidays through the year.

Encourage the team to book time out and remind that even if they are not going away it is important to take regular time out.

If you do have a team member that has either taken the remainder of the holiday in one big hit or is about to then it is worth checking to see how they are fairing up at work. Are the stressed out, do they need your help and support with anything?

Laura