Managers who undergo mental health training feel more capable of supporting staff, but the flow-on effects for employees are unclear, according to a major review. However, the lead researcher tells OHS Alert that this should not deter organisations from implementing such important programs.
The researchers from the University of NSW and other Australian and European institutions say they were the first to conduct a review of studies assessing the effectiveness of workplace interventions for managers that focused on the mental health of directly-reporting employees.
Published by BMJ, their review found the interventions helped managers form non-stigmatising attitudes towards mental health issues, and significantly improved their mental health literacy and behaviour when supporting affected workers.
But few of the reviewed studies evaluated the impact of manager training on workers, and they were unable to identify positive flow-on effects.
Lead researcher Aimee Gayed, from the University of NSW and the Black Dog Institute, says the limited evidence on employee outcomes “should not deter employers from implementing evidence-based manager training”.
“The importance of such training at a manager level is widely recognised,” she says.
In the published review, the researchers say there is an increasing trend for organisations to provide manager mental health training, which has evolved from a “growing understanding of the important role managers may play in the mental health of their employees”.
“Managers’ knowledge of workplace issues and their ability to implement adjustments to working conditions place them in an influential position to manage work-based mental health risk factors and improve the wellbeing of their staff,” they say.
Gayed says it is essential that employers considering implementing manager training “make informed decisions based on the evidence available, and the generalisability and relevance of the program to their workplace”.
“It is also important that a holistic approach to workplace mental health across the organisation is considered, where preventive approaches to maintain good mental health are implemented in addition to having strategies in place to appropriately respond to mental illness once it emerges,” she says.
The research team says the inconclusive results on the impact of manager training on workers was mainly due to the limited number of studies available, as well as their short follow-up periods.
Another explanation is that organisational factors like high levels of insecurity have significant mental health impacts that can’t be mitigated by supportive managers, they say.
“This type of explanation suggests that benefits of manager training may in part be dependent on different workplace contexts.
“The range of beneficial effects of manager-specific mental health training on managers’ knowledge, attitudes and behaviour found in this review is very encouraging and supports such interventions as a potentially important public health initiative.”
Source: OHS Alert, 9 May 2018
Safety Australia Group