MENTAL HEALTH AND PERFORMANCE REVIEWS

August 30, 2023

This is going to get a bit Rated R, so buckle up buttercup.

Recent studies show that 1 in 4 employees suffer from some sort of diagnosed mental health issue. But you can’t just ask an employee if they suffer from mental health issues. This is like asking them if they take crazy pills and if they take them like they are suppose to.

So knowing that 25% of the workforce is suffering, we also know Employee mental health is positively associated with job performance. This correlation signifies that when employees are mentally healthy, they are more likely to perform better in their jobs 1.

1. Performance reviews can potentially harm mental health. About half of all workers are surprised at their rating during performance reviews, and 90% of those workers are unhappy, leading to a 23% drop in engagement 2.
2. According to CEB, only 5% of HR managers are satisfied with performance reviews, indicating there could be room for improvement in the current system 3.
3. A significant 84% of HR departments have identified burnout as a major issue that needs to be addressed using performance management 4.
4. A recent study revealed that 60% of working professionals are experiencing mild symptoms of anxiety, which can undoubtedly influence their performance review results 5.

So what do employers do about it? You change how you measure performance, but how?

1. Get rid of the damn rating system. It is worthless and doesn’t do anyone any good. Rather you have a mental health condition or not.
2. Remember performance is just as much about attitude as it is about skills
3. Modify individual job descriptions to exclude non-essential job functions
4. Stop micromanaging
5. Encourage ongoing and open communication
6. Set clear expectations from the start, starting with the interview process
7. Don’t just meet once or twice a year about performance, as a matter of fact, let’s informalize the performance review process altogether and provide regular timely written feedback.

Guess what, you can do all of this without buying another piece of software or adding additional employees. However, it might require you to demote your managers and promote your leaders.

For more videos like this, please follow me, like, share, do the whole social media thing and remember, keep it Rated R HR.

1. https://www.forbes.com/sites/onemind/2020/11/11/4-ways-to-improve-performance-reviews-and-promote-mental-health/ ↩
2. https://hbr.org/2020/08/8-ways-managers-can-support-employees-mental-health ↩
3. https://www.benefitspro.com/2023/04/04/how-to-promote-psychological-safety-with-hr-tools/ ↩
4. https://www.wtwco.com/en-us/insights/2022/08/9-ways-employers-can-combat-the-stigma-of-mental-health-issues ↩
5. https://ceoroundtable.heart.org/mentalhealth/introduction/ ↩
6. https://www.workplacestrategiesformentalhealth.com/resources/performance-management ↩
7. https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/toolkits/pages/mental-health-disabilities.aspx ↩
8. https://www.betterup.com/blog/mental-health-in-the-workplace ↩