Skills for Line Managers programme
Publisher:
Other
Year of publication:
2011
Topics:
Mental health, Employer guidance and Job retention
Type:
Evaluation report From May 2010, Yorkshire and Humber Improvement Partnership (YHIP) delivered a programme of free-to-attend one-day awareness raising courses specifically targeting line managers. This was part of its PSA 16 delivery strategy, to support the development of that general approach to mental health and employment. This programme of courses, Mental Health in the Workplace: Skills for Line Managers, was delivered by 15 individual companies and organisations.
Although only one-day long, the course aimed to help its participants develop a better understanding of mental health and the impact of work, to enable early intervention through improved awareness of the signs and symptoms of increased stress and common mental health conditions, and raise awareness of best practice in supporting employees experiencing poor mental health.
Between June 2010 and January 2011 this evaluation surveyed 603 participants on Skills for Line Managers, 68.2% of whom agreed to take part in a follow-up survey two or three months after the training.
The evaluation shows that line managers’ expectations in terms of gaining a better understanding of mental health and employment were met by the training, and this improved understanding sustained after a period back at work, as did their ability to intervene earlier, and their awareness of best practice in supporting employees with a mental health condition.
The impact of Skills for Line Managers on participants’ confidence in their ability to change the way their organisations supported people with mental health conditions also largely met their expectations, and was also to an extent sustained after two or three months back at work, with respondents providing concrete examples of changes that had taken place.
Participants wanted to learn more about mental health and employment after they had finished the training, and this desire for further courses and study programmes was also sustained after a period back in the workplace.
