Latest posts:
Rate this!
John Evans
Member - 2 posts
I have read the summary of this report and did contribute by responding to the initial questionnaire. Going by the comments in this article I feel the need to side with the campaigners concerns and complaints. For all the worthy words in the report it still misses the point that managers especially in environments they consider safe, such as offices, shops, etc. very often have a mindset where they believe the pragmatic let alone legal obligations do not refer to them because the environment is inherently "safe." But this can be very far from the reality especially where responsibilities and duties are divided between such as tenants and landlords as in multi tenanted buildings such as shop and office complexes. Just because the law or duty makers expect managers to understand and take responsibility, does not mean they do and will.
Rate this!
John Evans
Member - 2 posts
A vital part of the equation that just has to work to achieve this expectation is the perceptions, support and commitment of the employer and staff. In my experience many companies have very real problems coming to terms with how to sympathetically handle their staff who have what could loosely be described personality problems. I have worked in and witnessed the behaviour of companies who prefer to avoid dealing with 'difficult' staff as they do not have the skills, perceptions, or even the will to tackle growing situations in a timely and sympathetic way. As and when the problem deteriorates to a crisis they are left with using disiplinary procedures to tackle a situation they should never have let arise. The result of this failure of management and responsibility is, at the very least, the encouragement of negative attitudes in staff at all levels, but often conflict, prejudice and serious disruption in the workplace. My concern is that, if my experiences of low level mental health issues in the workplace are anything to go by, until the general level of knowledge and understanding amongst employer's management and staff is improved, such initiatives will struggle and fail to deliver the desired results. Some employers and individuals are fantastic, but many many more are just not aware or interested let alone commited.
0 (0)
