Megan Campbell, CPO at TAB, talks about importance of supporting leaders in supporting teams
As the complex topic of employee mental health and wellbeing continues to evolve, HR teams are left with the responsibility of finding new and innovative wellbeing initiatives to keep their workforces engaged.
Megan Campbell, chief people officer at the TAB, believes that employers can have all the health and wellbeing initiatives in the world, but what it boils down to is this: if your people are struggling, then you need to look at your leadership.
“Once you get those baseline initiatives done, the thing that makes the most difference is actually an employee’s relationship with their leader,” she said.
“I genuinely believe that if you don't have good leaders, or you're not giving your leaders good tools and support, it doesn’t matter how many fruit bowls, duvet days, and other wellness initiatives you have.”
TAB NZ introduced an initiative called “duvet day,” where employees could take a day off to support their mental health – if they were feeling overwhelmed, or simply needed some refresh time.
However, the initiative fell flat when the TAB workforce didn’t embrace it, Campbell said.
“The reason it didn't land is people were too embarrassed, or they didn't understand what it was for, or managers didn’t support people to take it.”
Campbell realised how critical it is to teach leaders not just about well-being and mental health, but about how to talk to people about it.
“[It’s about] how to bring up that conversation, what signs to look for, how to make sure people understand what they're doing and why they're doing it, what their goals are, and what that means for the overall organisation,” she said.
Historically, organisations have only given people a path to leadership — there’s no path to simply be exceptional in their field — and this has led to organisations driving people to be leaders when they don’t have the natural ability and, in some cases, don’t even want to be one.
“What I find is when you have a leader who's not a good leader, they don't wake up in the morning and want to be a bad leader — more often than not, they happen to be the most senior and were appointed, even though they may not want it and have never been given the right training and support,” said Campbell.
“What I've learned is if people know what's expected of them, how to do it, and they're feeling supported, you actually won’t end up in a performance conversation, you won't have to worry about the disciplinaries because it never gets to that point. It comes back to management foundations,” she said.
“People need to know what they do and why they do it. And if they don't, they're never going to be comfortable and they’re never going to feel in a good, engaged space.”
