Supporting staff in the workplace via supervision sessions, focusing on mental wellbeing and resilience is one of my favourite roles. I admire those who work in a psychologically demanding environment, have high levels of responsibility and heavy workloads, and still take the time to pause and reflect on how they are really doing, every month. It shows commitment to themselves and the work/life balance they want to strive for. From the education sector, to various charities, to the Criminal Justice System, we are proud to join these clients through their professional journeys, exploring the ups and downs of their working lives and finding ways to better manage the challenges they face.

Speaking with so many clients about their experience in the workplace, patterns can be found in how many can struggle in similar ways, in very different situations. So what can be the most common themes emerging, brought to sessions by professionals? Let me name just a few.

Feeling ‘invisible’

Employees that don’t feel seen or heard by their organisations are more likely to be dissatisfied, unmotivated and disillusioned within their professional environment. Often changes are made without staff consultation or with little or no notice or explanation. This can create a sense of staff not being significant enough or not valued enough to be asked to contribute to a decision making process (where appropriate) or to be given enough time to adjust to new procedures. Questions, requests or concerns not being acknowledged can also exacerbate that perception of invisibility.   

Lack of recognition

Not feeling appreciated or recognised can be a great source of stress and unhappiness at work. This is not – or very rarely is – about a financial reward. Verbal praise can be incredibly powerful. I often hear clients talk about how much it meant to them to be commended on a good piece of work, or to be thanked for covering someone else’s caseload and so on. One thing I have reflected on with many clients is that, no matter how old, how experienced, or how senior we are in a professional role, we all like to get that ‘gold star’ recognition. 

Heavy/unrealistic workloads

This may seem like an obvious one, and let’s face it, who isn’t really busy all the time? There is a difference between being very busy, and constantly feeling like you will let your employer, team or organisation down because you will never reach that unreachable goal. Meeting expectations (others’ as well as our own) can be a big factor in professional satisfaction, so it is fair to say that if the message we are getting is that we are not fulfilling those expectations, we are likely to feel increasingly anxious, stressed and never quite ‘good enough’. Unfortunately this can in turn lead to staff working longer hours and upsetting their work/life balance, often with detrimental effects in the long run.

These, and many others, can all be elements contributing to professionals feeling more exhausted and ultimately burnt out, if not appropriately addressed in a timely manner. 

This is why we do what we do and why we applaud all the organisations, companies and schools that invest in the psychological wellbeing of their workers by promoting interventions delivered by qualified and experienced mental health experts.For more information on our services feel free to get in touch via our website contact page