Dealing with a co-worker with serious mental health issues

[MightyPen]

This is a new one for me.

 

We have a new, formal organizational structure in which I have three underlings. Two of them are great...they don't know I refer to them as "underlings" on message boards, but still. They work hard and bring a lot to the table. They are assets.

 

Underling #3 has...well let's just say "significant" mental health issues. As significant as they come, as is my understanding. As a supervisor, how would you deal with this? She has to go to weekly sessions with her therapist, and obviously that's approved time off, but I feel like I'm walking on egg shells because I'm afraid she might fly off the handle at any given time.(her previous break down came out of nowhere, at least from what I know). I have no idea what her triggers are.

 

How do you help an employee in this situation without knowing more about her condition?

[privategal]

Is it really any of your business as long as she is doing her job? Her past should not affect her present in your eyes.

Don't see her as a mental illness rather see her as a colleague.

Also read up on what it is like from the patients perspective to suffer through mental issues. Folks don't speak about it openly nor choose it.

Speak to hr about any sensitive issues but really, she isn't some sort of alien, she is a human working through a medical issues which is common and you should focus on work only, a person's private medical struggles are not any managers business. Hopefully you don't look down on her or judge her.

[MightyPen]

No judgment here, but for me, clients' needs always come first.

 

We are in a competitive service professional services industry and there is no room for any a public breakdown, relapse, what have you. To me, it's forward-thinking to attempt to identify potential triggers/problems, but again I'm not sure how to do that without "going into the weeds" re: her condition. I'm concerned when any employee engages in any erratic behavior that could bleed over into work.

 

She was only off work for 15 days after the event, and I was shocked she came back so quickly.

[Miss Clavel]

ok, she's ill. maybe it's chronic, maybe it's not. it was accute, now she's taking treatment. which is none of your business.

the same as if she was doing the 12 steps or going for chemo. she's got an illness. one she cannot control?

 

you will look very bad if you do anything except support her.

 

if she goes nuts in front of everyone, treat her the same way you would a diabetic that needs oj and an ambulance.

 

if she stops taking her treatment...

[privategal]

No judgment here, but for me, clients' needs always come first.

 

We are in a competitive service professional services industry and there is no room for any a public breakdown, relapse, what have you. To me, it's forward-thinking to attempt to identify potential triggers/problems, but again I'm not sure how to do that without "going into the weeds" re: her condition. I'm concerned when any employee engages in any erratic behavior that could bleed over into work.

 

She was only off work for 15 days after the event, and I was shocked she came back so quickly.

 

Clients needs always come first? Hmmmm. How very kind of you to put a consumer before the one showing up to work each day rain, snow, sunshine WHILE battling health issues, likely raising a family, dealing with regular normal stresses like bills, car repair, health concerns, family....but you'd truly have MORE loyalty to a client above one of your OWN?

IF YOU treat her well, and like a normal, valuable, functioning member of your TEAM, perhaps she'd serve her position and the almighty clients better.

If you treat her with kid gloves, tip toeing, assuming she is a loose cannon, and judging her capability and treating her peers better as THEY had NOT had a health crisis so therefore somehow give more value and are more 'reliable' perhaps you will see how far that attitude toward her will get you.

If your employer and hr allowed her back to work (which likely required a doctor's release) then this is all you need to know.

Assuming she will relapse or breakdown publicly again is unfair. What would you like your boss to do for you if you were in this situation, or if your wife or sister/brother was?

My guess is not be naive to what the disease really is, nor make broad assumption that she would intentionally cause a scene or have a meltdown.

Two quotes for you:

1. Treat everyone with kindness as everyone is fighting a HARD battle you know nothing about.

 

2. You can't get the customer experience right until you get the employee experience right.

 

Also, newsflash there isn't really any public service industry that could "afford" a public meltdown but if something like this were to happen (and that is making a HUGE assumption) people (ie clients) have more empathy and compassion than you think.

 

Again, please exercise some empathy and seek understanding as to the circumstances and what one would go through while leading up to, being in the middle of, and following a mental health breakdown.

 

I have to admit, and pardon me if I'm wrong, but your tone does indeed sound a bit condescending toward her disposition and "until you've walked a mile in someone else's shoes..."

Perhaps you maybe aren't prepared to BE A manager if this is your outlook to an employee (NOT underling) who is recovering.

Stay out of her personal matters and focus on her work perfirmance...not what HAD happened, what MIGHT happen again, but rather what IS happening.

 

This is the problem with corporate America. People aren't robots, they are HUMAN with real struggles and problems.

Read up and do mind your business and speak to HR if you can't handle yourself with proper dignity toward a collegue.

Edited August 11, 2016 by privategal

[porta77]

I think you are definitely making judgments. By your own admission you know next to nothing about the employee. I have no idea how you know she sees a therapist or what business it is of yours. FYI people who see therapists don't always "fly off the handle". If that's your idea of humor, it failed.

 

I'm not sure what you're asking for advice about.

[ChickiePops]

How would you react if it was cancer? Do that.

[MightyPen]

Well this wasn't helpful at all.

 

I'm not sure how it's condescending to wonder if a person who has a total breakdown (and I'm withholding exactly what happened but trust me, it's pretty damn bad) might have another breakdown just weeks after the fact. Actually it seems extremely short-sighted, bordering on foolish, not to have that concern, but oh well.

 

No more comments please.

[Mind-Chants]

Clients needs always come first? Hmmmm. How very kind of you to put a consumer before the one showing up to work each day rain, snow, sunshine WHILE battling health issues, likely raising a family, dealing with regular normal stresses like bills, car repair, health concerns, family....but you'd truly have MORE loyalty to a client above one of your OWN?

 

You made too many assumptions here. First of all "Client comes first" doesn't mean one undermines the employees. It means when everything is going right, client agenda is prioritized. But yes when an employee has got issues, rational decisions are taken.

 

What MightyPen pointed out is that he needs a preventive strategy in place for possible breakdown of the employee and possible spillover into business matters. That is forward looking business acumen than resorting to firefighting salvation mode.

 

And finally everybody bashing him overlooked his main question. "How do you help an employee in this situation without knowing more about her condition?" Nobody answered this.

 

I was in your position few months back. But I had replacements. So I moved her (temporarily) from her critical position to a non critical position to avoid any further damage. But initial damage was already done, she had already made blunders which cost the company massive losses $$$. If I had known her situation, I would have been cautious. I was new in my position and didn't knew everyone that closely because my team was huge(>50). The senior management wanted her gone. Me and my boss had to take all the fireworks from the senior management to save her the job. But things worked out great, she is now back in her original position.

[anika99]

Well this wasn't helpful at all.

 

I'm not sure how it's condescending to wonder if a person who has a total breakdown (and I'm withholding exactly what happened but trust me, it's pretty damn bad) might have another breakdown just weeks after the fact. Actually it seems extremely short-sighted, bordering on foolish, not to have that concern, but oh well.

 

No more comments please.

 

Because you identified two people as assets while identifying the third as having mental health issues. It's like you have written her off as being unable to contribute anything valuable to your team because of a previous breakdown. How is she not also an asset to your team? Is she crying at her desk all day? Yelling at coworkers? Refusing to do her work? What has she done at work to get labeled as the one with mental health issues while the others get called assets?

[alphamale]

How do you help an employee in this situation without knowing more about her condition?

treat her the same as the other two

[SpiralOut]

I don't think that you can do much except be the type of supervisor/manager that employees feel they can go to if they have a concern. If her episode came out of nowhere, it may have been due to some issue that was building up and up until some small thing happened to break the camel's back.

[preraph]

Unless you have been instructed and trained to treat her differently, then treat her the same and have the same expectations as others -- and if she fails to meet them, report it as you would with other people. Let the higher-ups deal with it. Don't protect them from it by cushioning her.

[MartajafE]

Thanks for the replies and great information. I am searching for similar patents and when this is a sure shot, I will seek a lawyer.

Also, can services and interaction design be patented?

[GemmaUK]

She should be treated exactly the same as any other member of staff.

 

We had a colleague - a team leader who attempted suicide about 2 years ago.

She was off sick for several months but didn't get any treatment for 9 months and even then it was not working for her. She recently switched to new medication which has improved things a lot but a down day and there's no helping her. It's not widely known but simply due to how she has dealt with other staff many folk tread on eggshells around her or avoid her completely if at all possible.

Unfortunately her manager also has depressive issues and was also long term off sick - between the two of them they have taken about a year and a half off in work time in the past couple of years with periods of sign off and short days/half days etc. but all just inside bounds of employee law - only just - but also some things are not within employee law but just never passed on to those who needed to know.

There has been a lot of getting away with murder - almost!

We have no other cover aside from the rest of the team stepping up which the long stayers absolutely do superbly!

It has ended up causing resentment and lots of newer staff just upping and leaving once they figure out what's going on.

It's the most unstable team within our organisation.

 

Seriously this lady should be treated the same as the rest - for one - you don't know what resentment it might cause in the other staff (not just the other two 'underlings').

If she is customer facing and has had an outburst or has done regularly then you take her away from a customer focus completely.

I agree that you don't want one person to have an outburst which could damage the business. Social media overlaps into work media these days and all too soon a bad customer experience from just one member of staff can cause a tidal wave.

[robaday]

It's a tricky one. I was the underling and in a similar situation a number of years ago. I wont lie it did affect my work for a year but then it depends what her issue is and what kind of role it is - I wasnt client facing but needed to concentrate, something I wasn't really able to do with so much going on. That's a long time to be not performing great, but I still did my work just wasn't anywhere near level I was capable of. I came good again and actually made them a bucket of cash but they had to be patient and I'm grateful for that.

 

I never had issues with my manager about it, only he knew. I did feel horribly judged at hands of some colleagues though who thought I was using heroin - the medication I was prescribed made me very zonked out, but I guess they didnt know and I didnt really want to tell them. It did make me slightly ashamed though and I avoided them.

[michaelm700]

You have stated your concerns but nothing specific about how exactly her performance is negatively affecting the work. Other than the time off for therapy, what is she doing that's causing problems?

[salparadise]

Referring to employees as underlings is a good opening... tells us quite a bit about one side of the equation. You state the problem in vague terms with few details. You don't hear exactly what you wanted and declare, "no more comments." Ok mon, you d'boss.

 

A large part of a manager's responsibility is enabling employees to perform at their best, which means knowing their strengths and liabilities, and balancing the employee's needs with performance requirements and the company's interests. They're being paid to do a job, but they'll be so much more productive if they're working in a positive environment that meets their needs too. It's a balancing act and the manager is the one on the front line keeping it balanced.

 

If the employee is good at the job and needs some accommodation, give it to them. If they cannot do the job, or they're destroying morale within, then you may have to make changes.

 

Neither extreme –– treating everyone exactly the same, or unlimited accommodation –– is the correct answer. The solution lays somewhere in between, and it's the manager's job to optimize it.

 

If a manager can't empathize with employees, or can't do that and keep the company's interests in mind at the same time... maybe time to make changes in that position.

[Buddhist]

You know nothing about her condition but you are already labelling it 'serious mental health issues'. Are you a psychiatrist? Able to diagnose? Lets get real here, serious mental health issues are people so psychotic they have no touch with reality. These are people on disability pensions because they cannot function.

 

One in four people actually will suffer a mental health issue in their lifetime. That's a high number, about a quarter of the people in your company have probably got one and you likely have no idea. But just say the word 'mental illness' and you have paranoia into the rafters and all sorts of weird idea's about what it means.

 

You're already treating her in a prejudiced way by admitting that you actually have no idea about her illness and yet you cite 'serious mental health issues' as if you do. You compare her to the other two people on your team, citing them as assets while you clearly think of her as a liability. You just didn't use the word, but the connotation is definitely there.

 

If you really want to help her, then examine your own prejudices about mental health and remove them from your psyche. If it wasn't known by you that she was seeing a therapist you could probably have chalked this one up to an outburst and nothing more. But because someone has used the word mental illness suddenly you're assuming you have a disabled person on your hands who is going to drag your team down.

 

Know that as a manager of people you will deal with more than one coworker with mental health issues, perhaps you'd like to prepare for that by seeing them as capable individuals who occasionally need a little support that they may ask for.

[Poe77]

Referring to employees as underlings is a good opening... tells us quite a bit about one side of the equation. .

 

I was kind of thinking the same thing it shows the OP has little respect for his employees as humans not surprising really given the state of today's work place over all..my partner use to work in retail and let me tell you most of the managers were nuttier and more counter productive then any of the 9-5ers... Op its none of your bees wax what mental illness this women is suffering with it becomes your business when and IF IFFFF she has a breakdown at work at that point get her the help she will need and that's it its not your place to judge how her personal mental illness MIGHT affect her work place clearly your not the one in charge of that..its a shame she doesn't know her boss is disrespecting her all over a public message bored..

[Taramere]

This is a new one for me.

 

We have a new, formal organizational structure in which I have three underlings. Two of them are great...they don't know I refer to them as "underlings" on message boards, but still. They work hard and bring a lot to the table. They are assets.

 

Underling #3 has...well let's just say "significant" mental health issues. As significant as they come, as is my understanding. As a supervisor, how would you deal with this? She has to go to weekly sessions with her therapist, and obviously that's approved time off, but I feel like I'm walking on egg shells because I'm afraid she might fly off the handle at any given time.(her previous break down came out of nowhere, at least from what I know). I have no idea what her triggers are.

 

How do you help an employee in this situation without knowing more about her condition?

 

Has there been any progress in the situation?

 

I think it does call for very careful handling. Personally I would say that if somebody has a mental health problem whereby there is a likelihood of them being triggered at work, then there's a responsibility on both sides (ie the employee's and the employer's) to ensure that a proper risk assessment is carried out...so that the employer can make any reasonable adjustments required to minimise risks to the employee's health.

 

I can't accept that, as others have put forward, this employee's health is "none of your business". If the employee themselves takes the view that it's none of your business and refuses to engage with attempts to ascertain what the risks are and how they can be reduced, then I have to say that if they are subsequently "triggered" I don't think they'll have much comeback against the employer. Again, there's a responsibility on both sides to address issues like this in a fair and effective manner.

 

I think rather than tackling this yourself, it's something to involve an occupational health specialist in. That's the usual approach, where an employee has a medical issue that might impact on the performance of their duty (and that might result in the employer needing to make some adjustments to enable them to function well).