Neither of you should feel rushed, nor likely to be interrupted. Choose a time when you are able to dedicate your full attention to the person and you can listen to and connect with them. Early in the work week and early in the work shift are ideal. This enables you time to initiate the conversation and if necessary, take a break and come back together to finish the conversation before the employee leaves work for the day or week.

Choose a private place to talk, and where possible, take it away from the central hub of the workplace. This should include privacy before and after the meeting, so consider a room or area with more than one entry/exit point. 

If the person does open up and talk to you about what is happening, your goal shouldn’t be to counsel them or come up with solutions. Generally, if it was that simple to resolve they would have worked it out for themselves. Your goal is to connect with them, show compassion and empathy, and guide them towards support.

Asking them the following questions may help you with this:

• Does anyone else know how you are feeling?
• Are you currently getting any support or help with this?
• Have you thought of what might be helpful for you?
• Is there anything you can think of that I can do to help?

If they do not disclose anything and your concerns are related to work performance:

• Give them time to think about the concerns you have raised and reconvene after a break
• Give them the option of having a support person with them in the meeting
• Seek support from Human Resources or the Manager Hotline if you are still not sure how to proceed
• Address each of the performance issues.
  

If at any point you have concerns about someone’s immediate safety or risk of suicide then you should refer to the Mental Health Emergency Response procedure immediately.

Your role is to engage with the employee, support them to make reasonable adjustments within the workplace and to seek other supports as necessary. Your role is not to provide all of that support yourself. You need to be confident to set clear boundaries around the support you can provide and encourage them to seek help from internal and external supports as required. If you provide the names and contact details of these services they are more likely to engage with them, so do so with confidence. 

Your goal for this discussion is not to diagnose someone or provide therapy. The goal is to connect with them about their experience, and to support them to understand that mental health problems are common and that there is help available. Avoid using diagnostic terms, or offering medical or psychological opinions unless you are qualified to do so. You want to validate that their experience is real for them and reassure them that there is help available.  

Saying things such as “It’s not that bad. You’re just making a mountain out of a molehill”  is not helpful, nor respectful. Instead say something that validates their perspective, even if you don’t understand it. Consider: “I’m so sorry that is what’s happening for you. That sounds really difficult”.

Don’t be tempted to offer advice and opinions on what you think the person needs to do. In doing this you risk not connecting with the person and may disempower them from doing the right thing for themselves. Instead, offer information on a range of supports that are available (research this information before you have the discussion), and help the person to clarify their various options. Then allow them to make a decision as to how they wish to proceed and who they want to have involved in this process.

If your observations are indicating a work performance issue you need to frame the conversation as being related to professional concern. You are providing the employee with the opportunity to raise any issues that may have affected their work performance. If they do so then you can discuss possible adjustments with them. If they choose not to discuss any contributing issues then you will still need to deal with the performance issues. 

Back to top