Are you noticing that your team (or team members) aren’t performing as well as they have previously? It could even be your peers or boss.
What else have you noticed? Maybe they are now rushing into work and rushing to leave at the end of the day, where they used to be relaxed.
Maybe they aren’t taking breaks. There are so many behavioural changes that can indicate an issue to you – you just have to be aware and take notice.
I’m not telling anyone anything that they don’t know when I say that things are changing. Once upon a time, the leader or manager was responsible for outputs. Then they became responsible for physical health and safety. Increasingly, leaders or managers have also become responsible for mental wellbeing in the workplace and accommodating diversity. Mental Health issues in the workplace have an economic cost of almost $12 BILLION a year. A year!
What simple things can you be looking for?
1. A negative change in performance.
In general, people don’t come to work to stuff up. They generally like to think of themselves as great at what they do. If they have previously been good or great and now aren’t… what happened? Take the time to be curious and have a conversation about it. It could be an easy fix for you, but something that they didn’t consider.
2. Physical illness.
Sick leave balance going up? Alternatively, coming to work/doing work while ill. You really do make a statement about how you value your staff (assuming a position of leadership/management) if you don’t take the time to find out what’s going on with them and work with them to find a solution that works for the workplace and the individual.
3. Behaviour changes.
Someone who is normally easy-going, chatty and works hard becomes withdrawn and just can’t seem to deliver on outcomes. That isn’t normal. Mood or emotion swings, inappropriate anger amongst other, I hesitate to say ‘extreme’ emotions, are all indicators that something is going on for that person. As well as being incredibly disruptive in the workplace, it’s not appropriate for one person’s behaviour to ‘rule’ a workplace.
4. Personal hygiene changes.
Notice that someone who never wears a hat is now wearing a baseball cap and pulling it lower and lower over their eyes/face? Notice that one of your staff is looking abnormally dishevelled. Maybe they look (and potentially smell) like they haven’t washed in days.
So what can you do?
Get to know your people. You don’t have to have incredibly intimate details of their lives, just be aware of what is normal for them. One of the first principles student nurses are taught is to identify the ‘normal’. Knowing what is ‘normal’ (or normal range in health) for a person, makes it so much easier to identify when something is outside ‘normal’ and therefore investigate it.
Be curious and have a conversation with the person. Don’t make assumptions or tell yourself stories about what’s going on. Ask them – establish the facts.
Would you like help with this?
