Let’s Look Mental Health in the Eyes – The Managers’ Attitudes Towards Promoting The Mental Health of Employees

Mental health problems are the main cause of employee sick leave, and have many other negative consequences for the individual and organization. The role of managers in the organization is, among other things, to care for employees; and managers’ attitudes towards promoting the mental health of employees in­fluence the extent and in what way they will take care of their mental health. Despite the growing interest in mental health in the workplace, these attitudes are less researched, especially in Slovenia. The aim of our research is thus to exa­mine and describe the managers’ attitudes towards promoting the mental health of employees, their experience of competence and the measures offered in this area. We created an online survey questionnaire, which included a modified Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale–Short Form and que­stions about the experience of one’s own competence; perceived advantages and obstacles and offered measures and good practices in the field of promoting the mental health of employees. The questionnaire was answered by 95 Slovenian managers who hold various positions in organizations of various sizes, both private and public. The attitudes of the managers were mostly positive, they re­ported both the benefits and barriers to promoting the mental health of employees, and stated what measures they implement in this area (most often, greater pos­sibilities for conversation, relaxation and information). A smaller proportion of managers also had negative attitudes and felt a lack of competence with regard to promoting employees’ mental health. The managers believed that the topic is still stigmatized and that employees often do not want to talk about their problems. Through the research, we gained important insights into the attitudes of Slove­nian managers, contributed to raising awareness about promoting the mental health of employees, and formulated some suggestions for work in practice.