IKO North America

Throughout my career, I have worn many hats as an HR professional. The tallest hat for me has been the hat of a therapist. 

I have had the privilege of listening to many employees talk about their issues at home or work that may be contributing to their recent poor performance or even their inability to focus at work. They either voluntarily came to me or were asked to go speak with HR because, in my experience, most supervisors do not want to hear that detail. 

Some distractors that contribute to our employees' mental health and well-being:

Life in general, family

 • Depression

 • Financial issues

 • Childhood abuse/trauma

 • Alcohol/drug abuse

Some very specific signs employees display when struggling include:

• Performance – any change in their normal performance is worth investigating.

• Attendance – an employee with no attendance issues begins missing time.

• Social skills – sitting alone in the lunchroom; not being engaged with others.

• Unprovoked anger or fits of rage.

• Appearance/disheveled – changes in cleanliness, body odor, unkept hair, sleepy/red eyes.

Coming to the HR office can be like going to the principal’s office and creating an environment of compassion and empathy is the responsibility of the HR leader. That can be done through consistent communication. Developing a level of trust among the employees before an incident forces them into the office. 

A few tricks I’ve learned over the years that have worked for me when meeting:

• A box of tissues situated at the front of my desk or conference table within reach.

• A bowl of candy.

• Don’t start the conversation with, "It's been brought to my attention". This phrase puts the employee in defense mode. Now, all they're thinking is, "By who?". I like to start with, "I've noticed a change in you and just want to see how I can help ." Then silence. 

• Silence is golden.

Be genuine when listening. Your attention is 100 percent dedicated to that person in front of you. It could quite possibly mean the world to them. Make eye contact and acknowledge you hear and understand with a head nod.

Ask in the beginning if it's okay to take some notes so you can determine how to best help with the situation. It has helped me to frame a recap at the end of our conversation and ask, "Did I capture everything accurately?"

Experiences

Appearance

A supervisor came to me complaining that his crew would not work with an individual who smells bad and something needs to be done. I asked the supervisor if he had spoken to the employee, and he said, "No, I don't know what to say ."(That's training and a topic for another article). I then asked if this has always been the case since the employee has been here for over a year and the supervisor replied, "No."

I met with the employee and asked if there was anything I could do for him. He went on to tell me that he lost his license to a DUI and has been riding his bike eight miles to work every day. This was in August, and the weather was unfavorable for bike riding. I asked him if he might do me a favor and he kindly agreed. I offered him a company backpack and asked if he could possibly consider leaving his house 10 minutes earlier and when he gets to work, pull his clean shirt and deodorant out and get a quick wash before reporting for work. He asked, "Is it that bad? I explained to him that the integrity he has shown by coming to work every day is commendable.

I reminded him I’m always available to talk and if he’s dealing with anything he didn’t want to share with me, to reach out to EAP and provided him with the contact card.

Fits of Rage

An employee was unable to deal with unexpected line delays in a food plant. He would rant and rave about downtime and point fingers at the people he felt were responsible. With a write-up already in his file for this behavior, he once again displayed this behavior, causing the supervisor to bring him to my office. 

In the beginning, he was calm and explained what happened and as he kept talking, he became angry and finally stood up and was throwing his arms up in the air and his eyes became glazed over as he was yelling. Then the supervisor stood up, and this triggered the employee to become physically defensive. 

I called the supervisor by name, which made him look at me and motioned for him to sit down. I then addressed the employee and took his side to bring the situation under control. I simply said “ ----------, I completely understand why you're so upset. Please, sit down and let me repeat what you said so you can tell me if I captured everything."  He sat down. I read my notes and he said yes, that's right. I asked him if, when he heard what I wrote, it seemed like his reaction was a little over the top or if that was normal. He hung his head and said he had some issues. He then talked about his problem with a drug. I told him I wanted to help him; the company wanted to help him and if he would accept the help, we would get it immediately. He took the help. Through the EAP program, he went right to rehabilitation and when he returned, he admitted he still had work to do on his own, but he was very grateful to the company and was an employee we were happy to have helped.

Just because we may not know exactly what causes someone to experience a mental health problem, this doesn't mean that it is any less serious than any other illness, any less deserving of recognition and treatment, or any easier to recover from.

HR professionals need to be mental health aware, friendly, and educated.

SHRM features webcasts to assist HR professionals with employee mental health.