All managers should be given the skills to support employees with mental health issues, NICE and PHE have said in new guidance.

Reducing stigma and equipping managers with skills to have conversations with employees about mental health is likely to facilitate conversations that address concerns about their mental wellbeing, the guideline says.

NICE and Public Health England’s guideline covers how to create the right conditions to support mental wellbeing at work through an environment and culture of participation, equality, safety and fairness in the workplace based on open communication.

The independent guideline committee, made up of mental health experts, employers, professionals from across the NHS, local authority members and lay members, recommended when offering mental health training for managers, employers should consider including:

• How to have a conversation about mental wellbeing with an employee.
• Information about mental wellbeing.
• How to identify early warning signs of poor mental wellbeing.
• Resources on mental wellbeing.
• Awareness of the stigma associated with poor mental wellbeing.
• Ongoing monitoring of mental wellbeing in the workplace.

The guideline says the training should equip managers with the knowledge, tools, skills and resources to improve awareness of mental wellbeing at work. It should also improve employees’ understanding of and engagement in organisational decisions and communication between managers and employees.

Dr Paul Chrisp, Director of NICE’s centre for guidelines, said:

“Even before the pandemic, the state of the nation’s mental health has been a topic of conversation at home, in the workplace and in the media. Our new guideline has considered issues that were a problem before COVID-19 emerged and new issues that have presented themselves as a result of the pandemic.

“Reducing stigma and equipping managers with skills to have conversations with employees about mental health is likely to facilitate conversations between managers and employees about any concerns about their mental wellbeing. This makes it more likely that managers can support employees with mental health issues. Further research is needed in this area, but providing managers with skills to discuss mental wellbeing improves the relationship between manager and employee so that they can identify and reduce work stressors. This is a practicable step employers can implement and adopted quickly without a huge amount of investment.”

The committee agreed that it was important that all line managers received training and support. They considered that this was good practice in all industries and all sizes of organisation, and that managers benefit in terms of their mental wellbeing from feeling skilled to perform their line management duties. Employers can put mental health at the centre of their organisation by:

• Developing an approach to mental health at work that supports mental health for everyone, allocating responsibility for mental health within the workplace.
• Reviewing everyday working culture to ensure it is as mentally healthy as possible, including making positive approaches such as exercise and mindfulness available to all staff.
• Carrying out regular staff surveys to inform the approach to and policies on mental health.