One in five employees suffers from anxiety at work
One in five adults has an anxiety disorder, making it the most common mental health concern. And yet very little about the issue is talked about in workplaces.
Anxiety is leading to increased employee errors, growing burnout, workplace rage, more sick days, and poor employee health. Harvard Medical School research suggests that on-the-job mental health issues, “imperils workers’ careers and company productivity.” The problem is particularly acute with younger workers, with more than half of millennials and 75 percent of Gen Z report saying they have quit a job for mental health reasons.
In research for the book “Anxiety at Work,” I found most young people long to be able to discuss their anxiety on the job but believe their transparency will not be welcomed. Said one twenty-something, “My generation talks about anxiety all the time to each other. I mean we discuss our mental health in every conversation with each other. (But) with you oldies, we never talk about it.”
Despite its prevalence, employees don’t speak openly about their anxiety at work. Why? Because their leaders seem to be holding tightly to a collection of myths and stigmas about the issue, including:
Myth 1: It’s not happening in my workplace
Yes, it is. Some managers claim they’d know if their people had mental health issues since their team members are so open about sharing everything that’s going on in their lives. You should hear some of the stuff they tell me, these leaders say. Yes, employees will share everything, that is, except their mental health struggles. That’s backed up by a survey of one thousand employed adults with anxiety. Some 90 percent of those workers judged it would be a bad idea to confide their situation to their bosses.
Myth 2: It’s not my job as boss to ‘fix’ it
No one is suggesting that leaders should try to become therapists. But they do have an important role to play in helping with increased anxiety levels. They can provide the tools and freedoms for people to get access to mental and physical healthcare, as well as the time and resources to recover from physical or mental illness. And they can encourage people to be open about their struggles and lend an ear, letting them know they aren’t alone. As one young worker confided, “Nine times out of ten we just want to be heard, and it doesn’t involve advice or problem solving. Just, ‘That sounds really hard. I can’t imagine going through that. I’m here for you.’ We want an advocate in our boss, not someone who is tolerant of the issue.”
Myth 3: Anxious employees want to be mollycoddled
Too many managers buy into the old-school belief that it’s best to let anxious workers weed themselves out because they won’t cut it here. But there’s simply no basis in fact that those who experience anxiety are less capable or weaker. In fact, it’s often the opposite. Those who produce the best results are often riddled with strong, regular feelings of anxiety. One study found 86 percent of those with high anxiety were rated as highly productive in their jobs. Makes sense: Employees who feel worried about not being good enough can often work harder to prove themselves. The best leaders understand that if they provide a mentally safe environment for their people, those teammates will be more able to accept challenges, and to stretch and grow. Anxious (not stressed) employees benefit from challenges and can do great things.
Myth 4: Young people all have perfectionism
Perfectionism is a real issue that affects many people, but in the interviews I’ve conducted what most young people say what they need to do their best work is validation that their work matters and they are doing things in the right way. When a leader notices and appreciates a person’s inherent value, anxiety is reduced. That’s gratitude. The point of gratitude isn’t just about thanking others for their accomplishments, it’s about helping people see their worth as a colleague and a human being. When young people don’t get validation for their work, they will often try things in new ways until they are thoroughly validated for their efforts. That’s incredibly unproductive.
Myth 5: Anxious team members won’t want to be part of our family
First of all, leaders are managing a team, not a family. And the truth is some workers won’t love their coworkers or desire to spend time with them outside of work, and that’s okay. It doesn’t mean they are bad people or don’t want to fit into the team culture. As a foundation for every team, make sure each person understands the basic etiquette and the boundaries for the wellbeing of the team on the job. Welcome people in and find ways to build camaraderie, but make sure activities outside of their 9 to 5 jobs are “no obligation, no guilt.”
Myth 6: Anxious people won’t be able to deal with our customers
Actually those with anxiety can be your best customer advocates. They are often extremely empathetic, as they’ve often gone through a lot in their lives. With that said, how we make employees interact with customers is often anxiety inducing. The customer is not always right, and leaders need to have their employees’ backs if they want to bring down anxiety levels. The ability to control one’s emotions in the face of abusive customers shouldn’t be a required aspect of any job. Customers who are not understanding that your employees are people in need of respect should not be welcomed.
Myth 7: People who have a secure job have no reason to be anxious
A relatively secure workplace doesn’t mean employees don’t feel overworked, or aren’t afraid for the future, or don’t need to understand the unique value they bring to the team. Remote or hybrid work is also making a lot of people more insecure about their jobs. They may worry, for instance, that the boss thinks they are slacking off. Add in the economic, social and political instability, and there’s more than enough reasons that managers in every industry need to try hard every day to reduce uncertainty and help their people deal with overload and insecurity.
Myth 8: Stress is a motivator
We all know that stress can help people get stuff done in short bursts. We’ve all heard the story of the mom who lifts a Pontiac off a trapped family member. But too often stress ties people up in knots. The effects of stress are generally corrosive of performance over time, which is backed up voluminous research, such as a survey by Glassdoor that found while 81 percent of people say they’re motivated to work harder when their boss shows appreciation for their work, by contrast only 38 percent report working harder when their boss is demanding and just 37 percent say they work harder if they fear losing their job.
