5 top tips to help line managers spot remote and hybrid working employees who need extra support

Managing a team in these days of hybrid working brings its own challenges, not least the mental health issues that can affect employees

Working from home may seem like a daydream, but living through a pandemic, struggling to separate home and work life, feeling a lack of connection and not feeling appreciated can easily lead to high stress, poor mental wellbeing and even depression.

In today’s workplace, prioritising mental health to facilitate the cohesion and collaboration of a remote working team is a challenging but crucial objective for line managers. So what can team leaders do to ensure they spot and support those employees who may need a hand?

1. Know when and where to help

Start by adapting your focus to spot distress in your team members. If you notice an employee is using more negative language, making more mistakes, or not showing their usual attention to detail and deadlines, these could be signs they are feeling burnt out.

The ultimate indicator of how well (or not) your team is doing is to check in on them and open up a dialogue to hear how they are feeling and if they need help. This may sound time-consuming, but it is far better to take a preventative approach rather than trying to offer support afterwards.

2. Communicate openly and transparently

Being open and honest, receptive and empathetic are the pillars of genuine, effective communication. An employee that feels heard and understood is far less likely to experience mental health decline.

Not knowing where we stand in the workplace can lead to feelings of stress and anxiety. Giving open and honest feedback and sharing the highs and lows of company goals can help employees feel included and informed, generating a sense of security to reduce anxiety and stress.

3. Build trust (and a cohesive culture)

Connection is a natural way to build trust, and a relationship built from trust converts to less stress and happier employees. When employees feel trusted and trust their team lead, they are more likely to feel connected to the company and driven to communicate and succeed — high-trust companies report 74% less stress and 50% more productivity. To create a sustainable, productive working culture, encourage your team to connect with each other and with you.

Connection and trust-building happen naturally during those informal chats where all team members, managers included, engage interpersonally. Also, showing that you care about your team’s feedback will likely assure them you can be trusted. Research published in The Lancet indicates that making space for these seemingly ‘unproductive’ moments of colleague socialisation and trust-building pays off in the long run.

4. Show appreciation wherever you can

Employees bogged down by stress and a sense of unworthiness are far less likely to be productive, per industry research by the American Psychological Association. But even if your budget is limited, there are many ways to celebrate employees meeting company objectives or professional development that don’t cost much. Celebrating successes facilitates enthusiasm for continuing to achieve great things at work.

While it is absolutely important to show appreciation and praise your team for their achievements, it is equally important not to show appreciation for unhealthy working behaviours such as workaholism which has been linked to metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular diseases. Encourage your team to commit to better work-life balance and lead by example. Avoid answering emails or messages after hours, during holidays, or at weekends. Set clear boundaries between work and personal time. When not ‘at work’, fully enjoy your time off — it’s good for the entire team.

5. Give your team functional, user-friendly support

Technology errors are all-too-frequent in remote work. Digital meetings fail, screen sharing doesn't work right and files are sometimes lost (to name a few). This can leave an employee feeling disgruntled and disconnected. Excellent IT and HR support will help them to glide through the additional challenges of remote work.

Even if you can tick all these boxes, managers may not know how best to provide extensive mental health support, at least not directly. However, you can signpost your team to external support.

Digital resources like wellbeing apps can help with everyday mental health concerns like stress and anxious thoughts. When employees need urgent support (ie when they’re feeling overwhelmed or need support dealing with traumatic life events), an Employee Assistance Programme can help fill in the gaps.

For more information on how (and why) to support mental health in your workplace, see our whitepaper, Mental health and the hybrid workplace.