Is there a link between careers, jobs, and mental health?
Last week, Jean Tennant interviewed me about the link between careers and mental health.
Jean is a freelance writer and trainer, specialising in workplace health, neurodiversity and disability.
Throughout my long career in occupational health, I have seen many clients who were unhappy in their career or jobs. I have also worked with those who were experiencing mental ill-health. I have long suspected that the careers, jobs and mental health are closely linked and that the problem is more common than the data suggests.
A recent conversation with Diana Dawson, the Director of Working Career, and research for my book for managers on how to manage mental health in the workplace, reinvigorated my interest in this topic.
Many employers provide opportunities to teams and managers to raise awareness of team dynamics, individual skills, and the benefits and challenges of diverse working styles. What I cannot answer is how many organisations provide further support to managers on how to build on this first stage.
To help me start answering my questions on the impact careers and jobs have on mental health, I asked Diana Dawson, the Director of Working Career, to help me. Thankfully she agreed to be interviewed.
Diana successfully helped me resolve my career issues in 2015, and so I know just how knowledgeable and passionate she is about helping people find the right career fit and giving them the information and tools to enable them to help themselves in the longer term.
I have restricted my questions to Diana to just six as I am sure we will return to this vast and fascinating topic several times in the future. Below are my questions and her replies:
In your experience, how common is it for people to be in the wrong job or role?
That is an interesting question. In my role as an Executive and Career Coach, I see a mix of people who are happy in what they do and those who are deeply miserable and want to change career.
We can define being in the “wrong job or role” as meaning one where people are not suited to their role in terms of their natural abilities, motivated skills, interests, values, and personality.
Everyone is unique, so everyone needs different things from their career. A person may feel they are in the wrong job for various reasons. For example, because they are bored and not interested in what they do. Or they may feel that they are not matched because the job does not suit their values and feels meaningless and lacking in purpose. Or may feel something is missing because they are not using their abilities or motivated skills.
Other factors come into play as well. For example, people can also feel they are in the wrong job if their environment does not suit them or if they have difficult relationships at work.
Research varies as to how many people feel they are in the wrong job. In the UK, it seems to vary between 30-50% of people feeling they are in the wrong job or role. It will be interesting to see how the pandemic has affected these statistics. For some, their job has improved (e.g., less travelling, meetings, the content of job has changed, busyness) and for some, for the same reasons, it has changed in a less positive way.
What proportion of your clients has experienced mental health problems due to a misfit with their career or a particular role?
I regularly see a misfit with a person’s career or role, causing mental health problems such as depression and burnout in my career change clients. If a person is mismatched to their role because they do not have the required abilities for the role, it does not necessarily mean they cannot do the job. They need to work harder than others to achieve the same results. Too much strain, over a period, can cause burnout.
The same applies if a person is in a job that does not suit their personality preferences. Such as a strong extrovert being in a job that involves no human interaction. Or someone in a job where they feel it is meaningless and they lack purpose. Intensely unstimulating (been bored) or overstimulating, such as working in a fast-moving environment or lack of process can also affect mental health, depending on the person’s ability to cope with it.
Toxic interpersonal relationships at work can have a huge effect on mental health, such as having a toxic boss, team or being bullied at work. Changing the environment rather than changing career can help in these cases. However, coaching can also help with interpersonal issues and building resilience.
How can career and executive coaching help someone and their mental health?
There are two things to bear in mind when seeking help for mental health issues. The first is the type of mental health issue presenting. Career and Executive Coaching can help with certain issues at work. Being in the wrong job, helping with overwhelm and managing workflow, dealing with difficult relationships at work, for example. Depression or burnout can be caused by these factors, as already discussed. Finding ongoing support and working with a coach to find solutions to these issues can have a huge impact on wellbeing.
The second thing to consider is the expertise of the coach. It is always good practice to find out about the coach’s training and background. Some coaches are not comfortable or qualified to work with issues of mental health at work.
I have training in counselling, coaching and mental health and in my view, emotions and managing emotions are a huge part of who we are. As we spend so much time at work, they are therefore a part of us at work. Being able to manage our emotions and mental wellbeing at work helps us to cope with the ups and downs of work life. We sometimes get stuck being able to do this or to work out solutions for ourselves. Therefore, it can be advantageous to seek help from someone who can support you to work out what is best for you and your career, or how to manage certain situations at work. Executive and Career Coaching can be massively beneficial.
Do you think that employers really understand the importance of correctly matching learning and working styles to jobs, or how a mismatch can affect a person’s mental health?
I think this varies from organisation to organisation and manager to manager. Some will be focused on the individual and understand what works best for them, whilst others will be more concerned about just getting the job done.
Obviously, the impact of the cost of mental health on businesses is significant. Last year, Mental health problems in the UK workforce cost employers almost £35 billion, according to research published by the Centre for Mental Health. This means that mental health problems cost £1,300 for every employee in the UK economy. Obviously, not all of this will be due to mismatching learning and working styles to a job, or people being in the wrong job, but these are huge figures and therefore worth investing time into understanding more about what works for individual employees.
If there was one piece of advice that you would give individuals to help themselves, what would it be?
Start with understanding yourself. What do you need from work? What are your strengths? What are your interests and what gives you meaning at work? Once you have an idea of what you need, you will be more focussed on what steps to take to be happy and satisfied at work.
What advice would you give employers about how to support and progress the careers of those in their teams?
Understand what motivates the individuals in your team. What are their strengths? What do they need to get from work? What do they value? Again, everyone is different. You might find some are quite happy with what they do and do not like change. Others may need change and progression. Ongoing open career conversations and dialogue are key to building trust, appreciation, and encouragement. Research has shown that being happier at work increases productivity, creativity, wellbeing, and all sorts of other desirable factors. So, it is in the interest of employers to understand what does make employees happy.
In summary
Diana’s comments match what I have seen in occupational health over the years. The advice she gives is also very similar; listen to staff, help them discover and work with their strengths; and provide them with appropriate support, including coaching. I would also add the importance of mental health awareness training for managers.
When these and other small changes are made for a member of staff, the differences and benefits to them as individuals, their families, their team and wider business can be enormous. How do I know? I’ve seen it.
About Diana
Diana Dawson, the founder of Working Career, is an Accredited Master Coach with the Association for Coaching, a qualified Career Coach and Career Counsellor, and a Business Psychologist specialising in Executive and Career Coaching. With over 20 years of experience of advising both individuals and organisations, Diana has supported and enabled hundreds of people to achieve their individual and career goals.
Feel you are in the wrong job or career, or need some executive or career coaching?
I am Diana Dawson, Founder of Working Career. As a Professional Career Coach, Career Psychologist, Career Counsellor, Career Consultant, Executive Coach and Wellbeing at Work Coach, I work with organisations and individuals to help manage their careers.
I am an Accredited Master Coach with the Association for Coaching, a Coaching Psychologist and Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapist with nearly 20 years of experience in the field.
I work with professional people from different sectors and backgrounds to cope and flourish at work. I also run Career Workshops and Wellbeing Workshops for organisations.
I can provide one-to-one career coaching in Edinburgh or zoom sessions worldwide. I can provide Career Workshops at your organisation or remotely. Find out more about me here