RUOK and the role of managers
By Tony Fifoot
I was reflecting on RUOK day yesterday, and in particular the role that leaders in the workplace have on mental health.
First a few stats:
Loneliness:
20% of employees feel lonely on a daily basis, with fully remote employees reporting significantly higher levels of loneliness (25%)
Engagement:
77% of the world's workers are either checked out or actively opposing their employer. OMG!
70% of a team's engagement score is dependent on the manager.
Low engagement costs the global economy $8.9 trillion, or 9% of global GDP.
Connection, purpose and meaning are all key to high performing workplaces, and I believe, positive mental health.
In addition to the people struggling with very challenging mental health issues, there are a huge number of people who work in intellectual work, who are bored, underutilised, or at least unchallenged in their normal day. When intrinsic motivation is “the main reason” you chose that type of work, you strongly rely on being challenged, enabled, and supported in solving intellectual problems.
If you are stuck in an environment where you are bored or mentally underutilised there’s a good chance your mental health will take a hit. This can surface as anxiety or depression, but also as loneliness or low engagement.
One of the key roles of leadership is to create an environment where everyone can do their best work everyday, where they are motivated to challenge themselves and tackle complex problems, to learn and grow. This requires empowerment and ownership; clear direction and accountability.
The role of leadership to provide purpose and direction for employees, as well as transparent clarity of how their efforts contribute to those goals, is crucial to longer term business success. More importantly, it is also crucial to the healthy mental position of your employees.
So ask yourself, as a leader, do you create an environment that boosts the positive mental health and engagement of your teams? Do you focus on connecting people, building close teams and providing opportunities for people to grow?
What one thing can you change today that’s people positive?
It’s good for business.
References:
https://www.gallup.com/workplace/645566/employees-worldwide-feel-lonely.aspx
https://www.gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-of-the-global-workplace.aspx
#RUOK #Leadership #MentalHealth