In Lesson 6: Connecting and Communicating Proactively in a Safe Setting, you learned some best practices that contribute to a positive and productive manager / employee conversation.These elements become even more important when discussing sensitive topics such as mental health.
Specifically, the language, tone and delivery leaders and managers use play a significant role in building a culture around promoting good mental health at work.
Therefore as mental health-minded managers it is our responsibility to always be setting the example for what interactions with co-workers look like.
Conversely when we are not careful about our messaging, language, tone and delivery, we are signaling to others that these things don’t matter. This can result in stigmatizing and even harmful conversations that will negatively impact mental health.
The next few topics will further outline how to initiate and hold dialogue around mental health at work using recommended language and more.