A Service Desk Manager’s Tale: Part Two
Earlier this year I wrote a blog detailing my personal experience with workplace stress and emotional wellbeing. It’s now seven months since that blog was published and I’d like to reflect on the impact of putting that article together and some more general observations and advice to organisations wishing to promote positive wellbeing in the workplace.
One thing that I was particularly apprehensive about prior to the blog being published, was that many of my friends and family would be learning about my experience with stress and adverse wellbeing for the first time.
I needn’t have worried. The compassion, support and understanding that friends, family and colleagues (old and new) showed me was overwhelming. What has been even more heart warming is that, on numerous occasions in the last seven months, people that I have met for the first time have commented on how the blog has resonated with them, how it was a brave thing to share and in a couple of instances how it has actually helped. There is no greater compliment. Knowing that by simply sharing my story, it has helped others, has left me wanting to do more.
What other initiatives are there?
At the Service Desk Institute’s annual conference in March this year, myself and other lead contributors to version 8 of the Global Best Practice Standard for Service Desk, discussed how to encourage the right behaviours, professionally and morally, through our interpretation of best practice. That’s why we put more emphasis on Social Corporate Responsibility in version 8 and added criteria specifically for Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing.
Mental health in the workplace is touted as being the biggest non-technology related talking point in the IT industry.
No single person is immune to adverse wellbeing. At some point a person will feel low, upset or stressed. Sometimes, unavoidable life events can have a significant unexpected impact too. Common events that may affect negatively impact wellbeing include;
Loneliness
Relationship issues
Problems at work
Problems with finances
Bereavement
These types of events are typically easier to identify and therefore recover from, than those where there is no clear outward reason for why a person may be experiencing adverse wellbeing.
Oher common, but often overlooked contributors to adverse wellbeing include;
Stress
Inactivity
Sleep disturbance
Delving a little deeper in to causes of adverse wellbeing in the workplace, specifically causes that can often be overlooked. It doesn’t just have to be bad managers or a toxic culture that can bring about adverse wellbeing, it’s possible that advancements in technology, whilst bringing increased productivity and other benefits to the organisation, can have a negative impact on employee wellbeing. For example: being unable to ‘switch-off’ due to being constantly connected or relying on IT or devices to an extent where their failure results in increased frustration. It’s paramount that organisations consider the impact that technology can have, both good and bad.
There is often a level of stigma associated with adverse wellbeing. You have probably heard stories and many of us may have even witnessed people being made to feel bad for taking time off work for legitimate reasons, perhaps even stress related.
Regardless of the reason for suffering from adverse wellbeing, there are steps that people and organisations can take to improve and maintain a state of positive wellbeing.
Tips for Promoting Positive Wellbeing in the Workplace
Earlier this year I wrote an article, published on the SDI blog, covering the topic of employee satisfaction. It may come as a surprise that the number one contributing factor to the satisfaction of employees within the workplace is the organisation’s culture and values.
Organisations that demonstrate a clear, positive culture and values typically provide the following for their workforce:
Training
This may seem a little obvious to many but ensuring that staff receive training related to wellbeing and stress management will empower everyone to be able to recognise the signs of adverse wellbeing in themselves and others. Furthermore, training will help develop skills for managers and staff to be able to have supportive conversations.
Physical health
One of the main contributors to adverse wellbeing is poor physical health. Organisations can offer support and even incentives to help people reach and maintain good physical health. This could include providing healthy meal options and encouraging more movement through exercise. A simple example of this would be where an organisation subsidizes a gym membership.
Community
Many people achieve a feel-good factor by helping within their local community. Forward-thinking organisations will engage with the local community and afford time for staff to get involved with fundraising events, regeneration initiatives and charitable activities.
Honesty and transparency
Another organisational trait that can deliver great results for employee wellbeing and satisfaction is creating a culture that promotes openness, transparency and honesty. An open-door environment that enables staff to talk to all levels of leadership encourages communication and collaboration.
Wellbeing at work should be a top priority for every organisation. One of the most widely repeated phrases on LinkedIn, I believe coined by Richard Branson, is that if you look after your staff, your staff will look after your customers. Whilst the topic of ‘looking after the staff’ is quite a broad one, there is clear data which demonstrates that a positive, happy, motivated, satisfied and healthy workforce can bring tangible benefits to the organisation. Although, in my opinion, this should be a secondary reason for wanting to promote positive wellbeing.
It would be impossible to cover everything that an organisation could to do help ensure they create and maintain a workforce with positive wellbeing, and neither could you expect every organisation to get it right 100% of the time, especially as every individual person is different. I think the key thing is awareness. Awareness and training. Awareness to increase understanding and training focused on encouraging supportive conversations. As my original wellbeing blog demonstrated, just talking and sharing experiences can have a wide-reaching positive impact.
This article was first published on the Male Psychology Network website in 2019.
Scroll down to join the discussion
Disclaimer: This article is for information purposes only and is not a substitute for therapy, legal advice, or other professional opinion. Never disregard such advice because of this article or anything else you have read from the Centre for Male Psychology. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of, or are endorsed by, The Centre for Male Psychology, and we cannot be held responsible for these views. Read our full disclaimer here.
Like our articles?
Click here to subscribe to our FREE newsletter and be first
to hear about news, events, and publications.
When a male is in a power imbalance, at least two masculine instincts are disempowered…
…people – men and women alike – respond less positively to male-favouring sex differences than they do to female-favouring sex differences.
hyper-masculine gender norms are typically embedded within military institutions, and while adherence to these norms can contribute to combat and military success, they conversely make clinical work challenging
Men might benefit greatly from a government strategy aimed at improving their health. Here are suggestions from the Centre for Male Psychology on how that might be done. This article ends with some comments on potential pitfalls in the process of putting this strategy in place.
…people – men and women alike – respond less positively to male-favouring sex differences than they do to female-favouring sex differences.
… many papers do not even bother to identify or justify the nationality of their samples…
hyper-masculine gender norms are typically embedded within military institutions, and while adherence to these norms can contribute to combat and military success, they conversely make clinical work challenging
There is social power, there is structural power, and there is physical power. What women have in our society is the power of the state behind them, and men do not. Men only have that physical power, and most men don’t want to use it
people are more aware of the fact men can be victims of this type of violence, but this often isn’t translated into policy, practice or indeed provision of resources
Therapists can work effectively with men experiencing distress without asking them to change. Telling them they are ‘doing masculinity wrong’ is judgemental and victim blaming.
people are more aware of the fact men can be victims of this type of violence, but this often isn’t translated into policy, practice or indeed provision of resources
people are more aware of the fact men can be victims of this type of violence, but this often isn’t translated into policy, practice or indeed provision of resources
Have you got something to say?
Check out our submissions page to find out how to write for us.
hyper-masculine gender norms are typically embedded within military institutions, and while adherence to these norms can contribute to combat and military success, they conversely make clinical work challenging
hyper-masculine gender norms are typically embedded within military institutions, and while adherence to these norms can contribute to combat and military success, they conversely make clinical work challenging
hyper-masculine gender norms are typically embedded within military institutions, and while adherence to these norms can contribute to combat and military success, they conversely make clinical work challenging
hyper-masculine gender norms are typically embedded within military institutions, and while adherence to these norms can contribute to combat and military success, they conversely make clinical work challenging
hyper-masculine gender norms are typically embedded within military institutions, and while adherence to these norms can contribute to combat and military success, they conversely make clinical work challenging
Much of our attitudes, theorizing and public debate around men and masculinity is influenced by high profile feminist and Gender Studies scholars in academia. But what is the scientific quality of publications from these scholars?
Some people blame drill music – a form of rap - for the rising murder rate in London. Drill is known for aggressive lyrics about gang violence, but rather than seeing this as a valuable way for young men to express their feelings, some people want to ban it.
To survive… cultures have to use men and women effectively and … in fact, most cultures have used men and women in different ways… what our culture does is [grant] greater status to men and greater protection to women
hyper-masculine gender norms are typically embedded within military institutions, and while adherence to these norms can contribute to combat and military success, they conversely make clinical work challenging
There are around 300,000 veterans living with hearing loss in the UK, according to The Royal British Legion. In addition to being at a greater risk of PTSD, depression, and anxiety, many vets are also battling psychological distress from hearing problems.
The book begins with a description of her therapeutic approach, and an illustration of how to understand and work with the rage often seen in male CSA clients.
I felt in my dealings with some police officers, as though I were treated firstly as a man (assumed to be a perpetrator), but they’d overlooked risks associated with my impairment. Example: How can you dodge a missile you don’t see coming?
The Panorama programme on domestic violence failed to adequately highlight two important issues: male victims and female perpetrators.
your photograph, name and address, might appear in the local and national press and on TV, insinuating what an evil monster you are
…an attack upon masculinity is an attack upon one’s sense of self, of identity. …What, then, is the right psychological defence against such an attack?
The male has been designed to “look”, not only at the female, but to “look out” for prey, for danger, and for ways to protect his family unit.
If his child is allowed to live, this man must be available, for the rest of his life, to love and provide for his child… If, on the other hand, it is decided that his child is to be destroyed, he should be able to go about his life as if nothing has happened
Socialising is a basic human need. The opposite – social isolation – is one of the worst forms of torture. Some people look down on the local pub as a place for undesirable riff raff, but that narrow viewpoint misses entirely the community value of the pub
Male psychology is a recent development in academia. Unlike gender studies, feminism, and men’s studies, male psychology takes the view that we can gain more by recognising and harnessing the positive aspects of masculinity than we can by taking a relentlessly negative approach to men.
.
Jamie Bell is a Service Desk Specialist with the Service Desk Institute (SDI), London, UK.