Spotting the Signs: A Manager's Guide to Employee Mental Health

About the Guest:

Clayton Richardson is a mental health advocate currently serving at NAMI Hancock County. He is deeply involved in promoting mental health awareness and providing support and resources to individuals and their families affected by mental health conditions. His experience spans educational initiatives, support group management, and advocacy at both local and state levels.

Episode Summary:

In this episode of Chamber Amplified from the Findlay-Hancock County Chamber of Commerce, Doug Jenkins sits down with Clayton Richardson from NAMI Hancock County to delve into the crucial topic of mental health in the workplace. As employee retention continues to be a significant concern for businesses, the discussion pivots to how mental health awareness and support can play a role in creating a stable and productive work environment.

Clayton explains the growing awareness around mental health, especially heightened by the impacts of COVID-19, highlighting that many employees might be silently struggling. He provides  statistics and personal insights into how mental health issues can affect workplace performance, attendance, and overall employee retention.

Key Takeaways:

- Awareness and Support: One in five people experience mental health conditions annually. Promoting awareness and providing support can significantly improve employee well-being and retention.
- Initiate Conversations: Use "I" statements and avoid "you" statements to make conversations about mental health less defensive and more supportive.
- Resources for Businesses: NAMI Hancock County offers free resources, including educational classes, support groups, and advocacy services tailored for businesses and schools.
- Impact of Mental Health on Business: Mental health issues can lead to higher absenteeism and turnover rates. Addressing these issues is beneficial for both employees and business productivity.
- Stigma Reduction: The stigma around mental health is decreasing, but work still needs to be done. Businesses play a crucial role in fostering a supportive environment.

Resources:

- NAMI Hancock County: https://namihancockcounty.org
- Contact Clayton Richardson: Email: clayton@namihancockcounty.org | Phone: 567-301-2101

Music and sound effects obtained from https://www.zapsplat.com

Transcript

0:00:00 - (Doug Jenkins): Coming up next on chamber amplified, your.

0:00:02 - (Clayton Richardson): Power is in your ability to notice changes in people's behavior. We're all good at that. We notice changes really easily. So someone might be coming into work late a lot more often.

0:00:16 - (Doug Jenkins): Welcome to the show. I'm Doug Jenkins from the Findlay Hancock County Chamber of Commerce. On each episode of Chamber Amplified, we're examining issues impacting the local business community. Whether it be employee recruitment and retention, marketing. It issues employees, really anything that can be impacting your business. Our goal is to give our members tips each week on at least one way they can improve operations and thrive in the current business environment.

0:00:39 - (Doug Jenkins): Employee retention. That's where we're focused today. Certainly it's something we've been talking about since 2020. While things have stabilized quite a bit from then, according to our members, it's still a pretty big concern. And while compensation goes a long way in that regard, there are other factors that play into it. Several factors, as a matter of fact, namely the health of your employees can be one of those big factors, especially when it comes to mental health.

0:01:01 - (Doug Jenkins): Today on the podcast, I'm joined by Clayton Richardson from Nami Hancock County. Clayton and I will be talking about the business case for investing in the mental well being of your employees. Some specific examples of this being a win win for both the business and the employee, and showing how helping employees with their mental health doesn't mean you become their counselor of a sort. It can be something as simple as a flyer in your business.

0:01:23 - (Doug Jenkins): Thanks again for tuning in. Remember, if you're listening on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, you can rate and review the show there. It really does help spread the word. Now let's get into it. So we're always looking at different ways that employers are able to stay staffed up, keep their employees engaged, keep them satisfied, because we know that's going to reduce turnover. And one of the things we've talked about over the last several years, I think really since COVID is the mental health aspect of it. Clayton's here to talk to us all about that today.

0:01:56 - (Doug Jenkins): Let's just kind of get into the figures on this, Clayton. When we talk about mental health and the impact that it has on someone, let's look at the business case. How big of an impact is this on just businesses alone?

0:02:09 - (Clayton Richardson): Well, the official statistic is one in five people are experiencing a mental health condition every year. But I would venture to say that it's more than that, because that's people who are reporting themselves, that they have it, that are getting the help they need and if I'm not mistaken, that statistic is also from before COVID and Covid affected a lot of things. So as far as businesses, I mean, if you have more than five employees, then you probably have someone who needs a little bit of extra support.

0:02:42 - (Doug Jenkins): And we know that if you're having a mental health issue, there is a higher likelihood of being absent from work, quitting a job, things like that. And it's not necessarily that we only want people to be cogs in the machine, but if businesses are more aware of this, then there are ways to help mitigate that and reduce your turnover. So it kind of works hand in hand.

0:03:04 - (Clayton Richardson): Yeah, definitely. I think to go along with what you're saying, one of the most important things is showing your employees that you're understanding and you want them to come to you with these concerns, because I know quite a few people that, you know, it's a win for them to get out of bed and take a shower in the morning. So going to work is a whole different beast for them. But if they knew that they had support, then they'd be more likely to be loyal and stay.

0:03:33 - (Doug Jenkins): How hard is it for, I guess, in your observation, anyway, how hard is it for businesses to thread that needle where they want to be understanding? They want to point towards the right resources, but they also want to say, we got to get to work. Sometimes. I think sometimes there is maybe a misconception. Maybe it's there, but the people tend to think, well, if I acknowledge the mental health care thing, then I have to let people miss for everything. And it's not really that.

0:03:59 - (Clayton Richardson): Yeah, I wouldn't say that. That's true 100% of the time. To answer your question, it is difficult to thread that needle. I think, like I said, the most important thing is to be widely accepting, and it kind of goes with a case by case basis. You're always going to have people that try to take advantage. But I'd say more oftentimes than not, if someone's working up the courage to reach out, they probably really do need the support.

0:04:29 - (Doug Jenkins): We'll get into some of the resources that Nami offers here in just a little bit, but I want to talk about mental health on the whole. Certainly we talk about it a lot more than we used to. Do you feel like the stigma is being reduced about just talking about, hey, something's not right here.

0:04:47 - (Clayton Richardson): Yeah, I would like to say that the stigma is getting better, just in my own observation, but it's definitely still out there. And that is the biggest thing that all of us can work on, not just at work, but in our personal lives and anyone we interact with. If you hear someone, like, for those that don't know what, what the stigma is, like, if you hear someone saying that someone with mental. With a mental health condition is a bad person or dangerous or anything like that, speak up and say, like, hey, everyone's journey is unique.

0:05:23 - (Clayton Richardson): We don't know what they're going through. Did that answer your question?

0:05:27 - (Doug Jenkins): Yeah, I think that's great advice, is if you approach like, hey, I don't know what this person's day has been like. Yeah, a lot of times, that's. That could be half the battle right there. But for people who may need some more help, this is where it's great to have an organization like Nami in the area, because there are services that you're able to offer, and businesses can help promote those and work on helping their employees out. So what are some of the things that Nami offers that businesses can really use to their advantage?

0:06:00 - (Clayton Richardson): Yeah, I'm glad you asked. There's three main areas that we focus on at Nami. There's education classes, there's support groups, and there's advocacy work. So starting with the one that's least relevant for businesses, I'd say, is the advocacy. That's where we sometimes work on the state level with the legislature to kind of change certain laws to be more, you know, less stigmatized. And we also help people navigate services in the social sphere.

0:06:31 - (Clayton Richardson): So to go along with the advocacy side, if someone basically doesn't know where to turn, like, I don't know where to make an appointment, we can help guide them through that. But as far as, like, direct resources that you can offer to your employees, our education classes and our support groups are really, really, really helpful. We have support groups for family members of people with mental health conditions and friends.

0:06:57 - (Clayton Richardson): We have support groups for people who have mental health conditions themselves. And we also have education classes for both groups, for family members and friends, and for peers who are affected by mental health conditions themselves. We offer the classes every quarter, so four times a year, and they're eight weeks long. They're very in depth, and they give you a lot of information on how the brain works, how to support your family member, or how to advocate for yourself, depending on which class, a lot of people take them multiple times.

0:07:30 - (Clayton Richardson): And as far as our support groups go, they are pretty much open ended. They run all the time. If you've never been in the building before, you can walk in during the scheduled time, and you're welcome to join us. And the biggest thing is everything we do is free. It's part of our mission to offer these services for free to the community. So we're just trying to get the word out to people.

0:07:52 - (Doug Jenkins): So from the business standpoint, it's really maybe just putting something up in the break room or something. Like, hey, if. If you don't feel like you're feeling well, here's a resource for you. Something like that, I think, can probably go a long way.

0:08:03 - (Clayton Richardson): Absolutely. I mean, we've had people that have said, like, hey, I saw one of your flyers at the library six months ago, and it just stuck in the back of my mind, and I feel. I felt like I should call and, yeah. And to make it even easier for those businesses, if you want to just call us, we're more than happy to bring you flyers to put up. You don't barely have to lift a finger. Besides picking up the phone, our phone number is 567-301-2101 it's just that easy.

0:08:35 - (Doug Jenkins): So it's obviously putting up a flyer that's helpful. If an employee reaches out to you directly, it's pretty easy to refer them to Nami that way. What about if you just noticed a coworker or someone who worked for you? Just seems like something is off. I know sometimes we can be afraid to. You don't want to point out, like we, like we said, we don't know what people are struggling with. And because we're trying to be mindful of that, I think sometimes we don't try and engage on that either.

0:09:03 - (Doug Jenkins): What are some ways to have that conversation if you feel like someone's maybe struggling?

0:09:07 - (Clayton Richardson): I'm really glad you asked that. So one of the things that we offer here is mental health first aid, and what that gets into is how to, there's a whole section on what you're asking about, and it's essentially, don't be afraid to speak to the person. That's. I definitely wouldn't say that. And one, I have several tips for you. One tip would be use I statements instead of you statements. So instead of saying, like, you look off today, you could say, I notice that you seem upset, or I notice that you seem stressed. And even though that still has a u in the statement, it's kind of tricky.

0:09:50 - (Clayton Richardson): But it's been shown in many studies that the word you makes people feel defensive. So, yeah, another one is the word why. So if you say, why are you acting like this? It kind of automatically makes the conversation feel less safe for the person who might need help. So it's generally like, if you have in your mind, like, I want to be accepting, I'm going to just report on what I'm noticing. So, yeah, that section in mental health first aid, it basically tells anyone who's trying to learn to be an advocate that notices these things that you're asking about.

0:10:32 - (Clayton Richardson): Your power is in your ability to notice changes in people's behavior. We are all good at that. We notice changes really easily. So someone might be coming into work late a lot more often. They might be, you know, they say the first thing to go sometimes is hygiene. They might be, they might not have a smile on their face anymore. Sometimes all it takes is just saying, like, I notice that you're not smiling lately, and that can make all the difference in someone's life.

0:11:04 - (Doug Jenkins): I think it's a good point because a lot of times our co workers know us better than just about anybody. We spend so much time with the people that we work with that the case for businesses being involved in this really can just boil down to that we spend so much time at work. How well do our co workers know each other? I think that has a lot of value to it. Have you seen cases where this has been helpful for businesses and you don't have to name the specific business, but I'm curious just to see how it's worked in the real world?

0:11:36 - (Clayton Richardson): Oh, absolutely. We've had not just businesses, but multiple different school districts have reached out to us for trainings or advice. And as well as, like you said, I won't mention the names, but there's several large factories in the area that we've helped with and different businesses that have asked for tailor made trainings and we've got nothing but great feedback from them because generally I think that even though the, the atmosphere, the social atmosphere is changing and people and stigma is changing, I think that people really do want to help, they just don't know exactly how.

0:12:17 - (Clayton Richardson): So, yeah, I think it has been very helpful.

0:12:20 - (Doug Jenkins): That first step is, I mean, that's with everything. The first step always seems to be the hardest. But if you can manage that, then again, you probably going to help someone who needs the help. And again, just strictly from the business case, if you can get them that help, then you've got somebody who has a much more stable life. And people who have a much more stable life are going to be employees who show up and they're going to be productive and probably going to be a very valued member of your team. Just again, I hate to make it sound so much like a cog in the wheel type of thing.

0:12:49 - (Doug Jenkins): Always want to tie it, because I just think it goes together so well.

0:12:53 - (Clayton Richardson): Yeah, employees want that, too. They want a stable place of employment, and they're going to get that a lot more if they feel supported. I have a couple pieces of advice that popped into my head that I'd like to.

0:13:05 - (Doug Jenkins): Yeah, go for it.

0:13:08 - (Clayton Richardson): We've noticed that places that will bring it up as, how do I put this? Like, they tell their employees to look out for these changes in people's behavior. That's all well and good, but it might be, depending on how you do it, it might be easy for them to feel like, oh, well, now I have to do this, too. Like, it's my responsibility to do this, too. So just definitely be tactful and say, like, we want to be here for people. If you notice anything, come to us.

0:13:38 - (Clayton Richardson): So that's one piece that's come up in the past, and the other one is those I statements I mentioned earlier are really helpful coming from, like, a management level down as well, because if I'm an employee that's experiencing, you know, a mental health challenge and my employer says, like, you seem off lately, I might take it as like, oh, they don't think I'm doing a good job, but if they say, like, hey, I'm kind of concerned.

0:14:04 - (Clayton Richardson): You seem like you have something going on, or I noticed this, then it might feel like, oh, they actually care. So I just wanted to touch on that, not just with people on your level, but especially if it's coming from above.

0:14:16 - (Doug Jenkins): I think that's a really good point. The you, the iverses you statement, I think is really interesting to edge. Part of it's come, coming from when. When I was in news and radio, we were always told to write stories, like, with you in it, because, like, people would grip, they would attach themselves to it. So, yeah, it's almost the opposite of what, what I make a lot of sense.

0:14:38 - (Clayton Richardson): Yeah. Yeah. Just completely different realms. But, yeah, that is, that is interesting.

0:14:43 - (Doug Jenkins): Have you seen, we talked a little bit about businesses. They're having the, you're seeing success with businesses in schools. Have you seen people who are maybe skeptical at first come around to it after you're able to work with them? Because I think, again, talking about reducing the stigma, you know, sometimes there's a, there's, there are old school and new school mentalities, and there's not a lot of flexibility either way. And curious of people who may have come into it skeptical about how well it will work, what their feedback has been.

0:15:12 - (Clayton Richardson): Yeah, we've actually, I've noticed that the most. We don't see that as much as you'd think. But the first example that comes to mind was a teacher, and he was like, like you said, he's got the old school mentality and kind of the, you know, bootstraps kind of mentality, and that's worked well for him. And when he expressed his, his concerns, that's what I told him. I said, well, I'm really glad that's worked really well for you, but it doesn't work for everybody.

0:15:44 - (Clayton Richardson): For some people, that feels dismissive. And there was a little bit of grumbling at first, but then afterwards, I didn't get feedback from him directly, but I got feedback from the school counselor that all of the teachers have had good success with it, and I'm sure that he was included in that. So, yeah, it's, it is an adjustment. Some of this stuff is awkward. Like even just if you do try to integrate the IU statement thing, you'll notice it's awkward at first. It's like, oh, this does. I've been doing this the other way my entire life.

0:16:20 - (Clayton Richardson): But, yeah, I'm glad you asked that question. Thankfully, we don't see it as much as you'd think.

0:16:27 - (Doug Jenkins): That's very good to hear. So if people are interested in having Nami come out, maybe create that custom program for them or just get some, some literature, some information. Again, if you can give that phone number so people can get the ball rolling, that would be great.

0:16:39 - (Clayton Richardson): Yeah, it's 567-301-2101 and if you want to email me, it's Clayton. Clayton at NAMI NAMI hancockcounty.org. it's kind of long, but clayton@NAMIhancottcounty.org that's also our website, hancock NAMIhancottcounty.org. yeah, we're always looking for places to do this with because we just want to get the word out. That's really the only reason we are able to offer all these things for free, is because the more we get the word out, the more we can get funding.

0:17:13 - (Doug Jenkins): So, yeah, very good. Well, Clayton, we appreciate your time on the podcast today.

0:17:19 - (Clayton Richardson): Yeah, I'm glad you had me. I hope that it helps somebody.

0:17:26 - (Doug Jenkins): Once again, a big thanks to Clayton for joining us today. The number of people reporting mental health issues since 2020 has significantly increased. And of course, that plays a big role in employee turnover one way or another. Like I said, I hate to talk about this in such a business case scenario, because employees are certainly more than cogs in a machine. But in this instance, you can make a huge impact for someone that works for you and also help your business at the same time. So again, it's that win win that helps everybody.

0:17:53 - (Doug Jenkins): Chamber Amplified is a free podcast for the community thanks to the investment of members from the Findlay Hancock County Chamber of Commerce. Because of our robust membership, we're able to focus on providing timely information to the Findlay and Hancock county business community, run leadership programs for adults and teenagers, and be an advocate for the area while also providing tools to help local businesses succeed.

0:18:14 - (Doug Jenkins): And if that sounds like something you'd like to be a part of, just let me know and we can talk about how an investment in the chamber not only helps your business, but strengthens the community as a whole. That'll do it for this week's episode. If you have any ideas for topics that we should cover on future episodes, just send me an email dashinsleyhancockchamber.com thanks again for listening. We'll see you next time on chamber amplified from the Finley Hancock County Chamber of Commerce.