We know that online manager trainings are a lot more cost-effective and scalable than face-to-face trainings, but are they as effective at affecting change? This study compares the data from HeadCoach (see Episode 12) with a face-to-face manager training amongst firefighters (Milligan-Saville et al., 2017). While both result in changes in manager confidence, only the face-to-face training saw differences in the sick leave of the employees. 

We discuss the possible reasons for this difference and how Nurau strives to incorporate the best of both in our hybrid live online microlearnings.

Link to article: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214782919300223

Similar to “Managing Minds at Work”, “HeadCoach” is an online training module designed for managers that offer both responsive and preventive strategies when dealing with the mental health needs of their staff. HeadCoach both improved manager’s confidence and led to changes in their behavior compared to a control group, although it was unable to detect any change in employee health and wellbeing.

We discuss the limitations of fully online trainings such as low adherence and the perpetual theory-to-practice gap that can plague such interventions.

Link to article: https://europepmc.org/article/med/31045851

At Nurau, we believe in the power of educating managers through digital training so they can both prevent and manage mental ill-health at work. “Managing Minds at Work” is one of the few interventions that exist for line managers that is built on the same principle. 

This article outlines the development process of their digital training program and evaluated the feasibility of implementation using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). The intervention resulted in improvements in manager attitudes and behavioral intentions despite its small sample size and represents a positive step towards how digital manager training programs can be used to reduce stigma and promote mental wellbeing at work.

Link to article: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/13/8006

In the next few episodes, we cover some of the latest interventions designed to improve mental health. Whether you’re curious about which interventions are most effective or how Nurau compares to existing interventions, these next few episodes will acquaint you with how training, prevention, and social support can be used in conjunction to improve accessibility to good mental health care. 

The first intervention we cover is the HAPPINESS pilot project, an initiative of the World Health Organization to scale up mental health care in communities, which trained non-specialist and primary health care workers in Nigeria in the detection, treatment and management of mental health disorders.

Link to article: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35279154/

Where are we now and where do we go from here? We take a pause in this episode to talk through a 2023 review paper by Kelloway et al. on how the field of mental health in the workplace is evolving, especially after the COVID pandemic. We go through what mental health issues are costing the workplace and recommendations from the literature on how workplaces should be moving to address them. 

Join us as we catch you up on the latest opinions in the field!

Link to article: https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-120920-050527

Other than managerial behaviors, leadership style is another way to look at your development as a manager. What leadership style do you have, and how does that compare to the transformational leadership style? 

Learn about types of leadership styles and the one explored in this paper published in 2023 by Kelloway et al., called R.I.G.H.T leadership.

We now zoom out and look at managerial behaviors as a whole. Are there behaviors that are more important than others for your team’s psychological wellbeing? What are the core competencies you should be focusing on as a manager? How does developing them in their career compare to listening to them share about their day? With so many competing priorities as a manager, it’s helpful to know which ones you can focus on first.

 In this episode, we get down to the practical and talk actionable skills you could be honing that your team values most.

We continue the focus on remote work but now discuss what managers can do to best support their team in a remote setting. We discuss the unique challenges that face remote teams, and what this qualitative study found when interviewing both managers and employees about what managers can do that is most effective.

Do managers and employees differ in their opinions? How so? Listen in to find an insight you can implement to manage your remote team today.

We now turn from the implementation of big programs to the study of workplace culture and how informal communication (i.e. small talk) can impact culture but also the commitment of your employees to your organization. 

Especially in the remote work world where small talk is becoming increasingly infrequent, and we long for the days when we could hang out in person at the lunch room, it is important to understand what small talk can do, and how to re-create spaces for small talk in a remote work setting.

There are a plethora of programs out there that promise to improve mental health at the workplace. But do they actually work? 

The problem with many of the programs is the clinical and financial impact is not measured so we have at best, a fuzzy idea of how effective they actually were. 

This paper by Bondar et al. 2022, however, show very clear impacts of their program on the mental health of the employees, that had both clinical and financial repercussions. It is one of the few papers out there that calculate the ROI of a program and make you have faith again that such programs, if well-designed with a good uptake, have the potential to turn the mental health of your employees around.