Good managers mean better mental health

As another World Mental Health Day rolls around, the clamour around changing the culture in law continues to grow. We have noticed a switch in the past few years away from the personal – how to deal with stress – to the organisational – how can we make better workplaces that support wellbeing. Most accept that things need to change, especially in light of the attracting and retaining talent issue that law is struggling with. But few can get to grips with how law can evolve.

At LawCare we believe that the answer is fairly simple – it does not cost thousands, and can be put in place in the smallest and biggest practices. Good management. For with the exception of a few contacts we get to our support service where someone is experiencing mental distress unrelated to their work, most people’s problems seem largely to stem from poor management or a lack of supervision.

This can manifest in lots of different ways. Often poor communication, lack of communication or no communication at all lies at the heart of the issue. This is a particular problem for trainees and juniors.

A common concern we hear from trainees is that their mental health has been negatively affected by their manager. There is often a pervasive attitude among more senior members of staff that ‘we had it bad so now it’s your turn’. One trainee recently told us: ‘My firm is quite old-fashioned and understaffed which had led to a lack of communication and support. Any time I have asked for more support or said that I feel overworked I’m just told that trainees should be worked hard and I just need to get on with things.’ Often we are told about managers who undermine, micro-manage, speak down to or shout at people, creating an atmosphere where people are terrified to speak up if they need help or have made a mistake.

There are also many trainees who have a manager who pays no real attention to them whatsoever, leaving them floundering with a huge workload (or conversely no workload at all) and no support. As someone told us: ‘The qualified members of staff sit in their offices with the door closed.’ Another person said: ‘If I ask my boss anything she says she doesn’t have time or you need to find the answer yourself.’

It is not just trainees either. We hear of women sidelined after maternity leave and told they are ‘too slow’, or those with caring responsibilities berated for leaving the office on time. We hear of people who say they feel like they do not fit in and their opinion does not matter. A caller said her manager refused to let her take holiday, and if she did manage to take it she would almost always be contacted about something urgent while she was off.

Of course, not all managers are like this. You might be a manager yourself with the best of intentions, but without the time or training to focus on building people up. Our Life in the Law research found that less than half of participants who indicated they worked in a position of management or supervisory capacity said they had received leadership, management, or supervisory training. Where training had been provided, 89.4% said it was helpful or very helpful. Often managers are themselves overwhelmed, under pressure from those above them, which can result in frustration, anger and defensiveness. One recent contact to our service said: ‘I’m stressed but only because my boss himself is stressed and keeps piling unrealistic levels of work on to me.’

If you are managing people why not use 10 October to take a step back, reflect on your management style, and try to bring more compassion and empathy to your interactions with your team. The first thing you can do is open up a channel of communication with someone. Our research found that, of a wide range of workplace measures available to support mental wellbeing, from private health insurance to mental health training, regular catch-ups or appraisals were reported to be the most commonly available and also the most helpful.

A recurring theme was also simply the desire to be ‘heard’ and listened to. So can you make time today, tomorrow or this week to check in with your people and find out what’s really going on for them? It might make all the difference to the future of that person’s career in the law.

Elizabeth Rimmer is CEO of LawCare