What about me?

|blog psychology-hr workplace-psychology

RUOK BubbleSo, what about me? Well, that’s YOU!, (Business Owners and Managers) not me.

I ask this question as, working with Business Owners and Managers, I see (and appreciate) the commitment and care put into looking after their staff. I also see (and appreciate) the huge risks, responsibilities, the various hats they have to wear and the sacrifices they make – which doesn’t always lead to the return on investment that employees think! As a Business Owner or Manager the focus is on employees. They spend their time, effort, and resources to continually try to keep employees aligned to business goals, happy, productive, and motivated to ensure business goals are reached, and most of the time I think, genuinely care about them.

Part of managing people is ensuring compliance to workplace legislation, that is, workplace health & safety, industrial relations and employment relations.   Most Business Owners and Managers are not looking out for the greater well-being of their employees purely to ensure compliance of workplace health & safety legislation or even to reach business goals (which is another benefit however – refer to my Blog last month – ‘There is more to compliance’). Most often, their efforts are genuine – they simply care about them.

Howver, let’s not forget, as my colleague Christina Willcox, pointed out in a previous blog, that in matters of Workplace Health and Safety, Health and wellbeing is unfortunately often forgotten because of the focus on safety (refer – ‘Health, the forgotten friend). This is especially true of Business Owners and senior managers (albeit less so for middle Managers – because it’s all about employees).

As a Manager there is generally someone above, until of course you get to being on the Board, but for Business Owners that’s generally it, the buck stops there! This is where the question should be asked, ‘What about me?’ Yes, there are hopefully friends and family around to support when needed, but that isn’t always the case. When it comes to the workplace wouldn’t it be great if employees looked out for their boss – Business Owner or Manager!? They might get some recognition for the work, effort and things they do from their team then too! Business owners may not want to share these personal details with staff and certainly they will need to maintain appropriate boundaries. But sometimes just someone asking the question is the recognition needed for the individual to do something about it. So, how do you get to that point?  Hope?

Firstly and most importantly, Business Owners and Managers should practice what they preach …or what they should preach… and take responsibility themselves to lead a healthy life – that is a return on investment far great than the business don’t forget! After all, without a stable, healthy business leader in charge, the likelihood of sustainable success as a business is limited. So, while it is easy to forget to look after ourselves when focusing on growing a business, remember that without the Business Owner, generally the business doesn’t exist – and employees don’t have jobs! There are things that the Business Owner or Manager should do for themselves just like employees. These things highlight a very important reason why Human Resources should be managed effectively.

  • Prioritise work
  • Have a Business and HR Plan
  • Delegate work
  • Exercise
  • Eat Well
  • Make some personal time for you, to do something you love
  • Look after yourself
  • Have regular health checks
  • Regularly talk to someone about challenges and frustrations

R U OK? Is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to encouraging and enabling us all to meaningfully ask anyone struggling with life, ‘are you ok?’. They have a great website with some useful resources and information to start using to help create that culture to help managers and workmates talk to their colleagues and team, to ask that important question, ‘R U OK?’ . I suggest it is equally important to ask ‘what about me?’ That means YOU! (The Business Owner or Manager), the person trying to create that culture for employees- who is going to ask you?

To create a culture where your employees would ask you, you need to lead the way by living strong organisational values that include care towards the people in the business! Whilst Business Owners and Managers may not want to cross certain boundaries with employees, if they create a culture in which employees feel safe to ask them the question ‘R U OK?’, it may just be enough of a trigger for them to think and start taking action to help themselves – just like anyone else.

So, what about me? You should ask!

HR Business Direction supports R U OK? In the promotion of regular, meaningful conversations in the workplace. 

At HR Business Direction we can assist with managing mental health in the workplace.

 

Leisa Messer BBus(HRM); GradDipIR; CAHRI; IRSQ
HR Strategist
leisa.messer@hrbd.com.au
07 3890 2066
www.hrbd.com.au