Workplace Wellbeing: When work makes you suffer, your work suffers

A heavy task load, an always-on culture, and external pressures are among the issues contributing to poor mental health in the workplace. Employers have a crucial role to play in creating a supportive environment

“People who feel well engage more with their work, have better relationships with colleagues, feel less tired, and are generally more productive.”

MENTAL health difficulties are having a growing impact on work, accounting for 22% of absenteeism in 2023, up from 17% in 2022.

That’s according to a report published in May by the HR professional body CIPD, in partnership with the Kemmy Business School at the University of Limerick (UL).

This finding didn’t surprise Dr Caroline Murphy, an associate professor of employment relations at UL, who was involved in compiling the report. “Not given the multitude of external pressures and challenges that workers have faced over the past number of years,” she says.

“There was the pandemic, which changed routines and led to a sense of isolation for some workers. The more recent cost-of-living crisis has put people under significant financial pressure. At the same time, technological changes and advances in artificial intelligence are contributing to changing work practices. While there are many benefits to be gained by workers and organisations, the pace of change can create concern in workers’ minds around their job security.”

If our work is suffering because of our mental health, the UL report found that the converse also applies: Our mental health is being adversely affected by our work.

Some 55% of employees who had missed work due to mental health said that their workload had taken a toll on their psychological wellbeing. Another 15% cited high levels of work-related stress. “Employees also identified the always-on culture enabled by technology and a perceived lack of support from managers as contributing factors to poor mental health,” says Murphy.

Chartered occupational health psychologist Dr Joe O’Mahoney says these findings should be of concern to employers. “Just as an employer looks at a balance sheet to indicate the financial health of their company, the wellbeing of their employees is another important indicator of the company’s ability to function effectively and deliver to their customers,” he says.

“People who feel well engage more with their work, have better relationships with colleagues, feel less tired, and are generally more productive.”

Employers have a legal obligation to ensure the workplace doesn’t negatively affect their employees’ health, including their mental health, says O’Mahoney. “Many aspects of the workplace can affect mental health, from work overload to poor communication.

“Employers need to make sure that the mental health of their employees isn’t being affected by any of these.”

Dr Caroline Murphy, an associate professor of employment relations at UL. Pic: Don Moloney

Compassion needed at work 

Niamh Murray, from Rochestown, in Cork, wishes such awareness had been widespread when she was in her late 20s. In the early 2000s, she excelled in her career and, by the age of 27, was a managing director of a global tax group.

Things started unravelling when her father died by suicide in 2004. “I didn’t deal with it well and nor did the people around me,” she says. “Some of them ignored that it had happened at all.”

She took time out of work to be with her mother. “But even when I came back, there was silence around what had happened,” says Murray. “It seemed like my father’s death was a taboo that nobody was able to talk about.”

Murray responded by burying her trauma and throwing herself into work, often starting early and finishing late.

“I was leading a team across 25 countries and could be on call 24/7 if I wished,” she says. “Ironically, our staff had rotating shifts, so their hours were managed but, as a leader, I felt there was an expectation that I would have all the answers and always be available. Looking back, I think workaholism was my way of coping.”

It took Murray time to understand what was happening. “It was only when I had a miscarriage, some six or seven years later and then began rearing a family, that I recognised how much was missing from the way we treat each other at work.”

Niamh Murray, from Rochestown, in Cork

She left the company and became an executive coach and facilitator. She later set up The Dialogue Code, which works with leaders and organisations to start a new conversation about how we can work, live, and lead more consciously and ethically.

“I believe that a lot of our problems stem from the fact that we are not allowed to be human at work,” she says.

“We’re not allowed to admit that we suffer mentally at moments of major transitions in life, such as when babies are born, when loved ones die, when children leave home, or during times of hormonal change. It’s natural to have these experiences and we all benefit if we can acknowledge the impact they have on us. This has emerged as one of the major themes in research I have conducted with Professor Na Fu in Trinity College Dublin.”

Murray believes this compassionate approach would address mental health problems in the workplace, especially if combined with a commitment to equality and respect.

“This means work being fairly distributed and everyone being given something that is necessary and meaningful for them to do,” she says. “It also means having clear values. Companies like Patagonia do this really well. They are committed to doing good while doing business and apply that to everything from their product design to their relationships with suppliers.

“They take great care to look after the planet and the wellbeing of everyone who works for or interacts with them.”

Onus on employers to effect change

For employers who want to emulate companies like Patagonia, O’Mahoney suggests they start by assessing the aspects of the work environment that may undermine employee wellbeing.

“A formal questionnaire, such as the Work Positive questionnaire produced by the Health and Safety Authority, will identify the areas that need improvement and help with suggestions as to how those improvements can be made,” he says.

Employers seem to be increasingly keen to do this. The UL report found that many were making efforts to support a positive mental-health and wellbeing culture within their organisations, with 59% of employees agreeing that mental health was on their managers’ agendas.

For business leaders to effect real change, O’Mahoney believes it’s essential to realise the onus is on them, not on their employees.

“There are certain things employees can do to protect their own mental health at work,” he says. “Primarily, this means having healthy boundaries, so that they can be present for others, while also maintaining their own health, wellbeing, and values. But the problems in the workplace aren’t all to do with individual employees. There are organisational factors that contribute to poor mental health, and these need to be looked at and addressed.”

This comes down to a cultural shift and “to managers becoming more attuned to the people they are leading and employees becoming more conscious of how they are impacting others,” he says.

“Most people are doing their best and we never know what’s actually going on for others. We can make a difference by cutting them some slack, being aware of our own shortcomings, and looking for the goodness in the people and situations around us.”

For Murray, the healthiest workplaces are those where people can be authentic. She says: “For this to happen, work has to be a safe space where people feel able to speak out and feel listened to.

“The organisations that recognise this and allow for it will be the successful organisations of the future.”