Improving P&C insurance industry employees’ mental health requires employers and colleagues to recognize signs of crisis, and to build trust and training into their approach, say experts in Canadian Underwriter’s webinar, ‘What’s on your mind? A mental health check.’
It’s crucial, given 46% of P&C professionals in Canada say they’re distracted ‘once or twice a week’ by either their own or someone else’s mental health issue. And 19% say they’re distracted by a mental health issue ‘multiple times a day’ at work, according to responses in CU’s 2024 Mental Health Survey.
Yet only 47% say they’re either uncomfortable or very uncomfortable talking to managers or executives about mental health concerns, and 34% say the same about talking to their peers.
Insurance employers should be concerned, panellists observe, because ample evidence shows a close connection between poor mental health and decreased workplace productivity.
Beyond low comfort levels in speaking about their mental health issues, many employees and employers don’t know how to identify when people are struggling.
And people don’t know where to turn for help, either.
Panellists provided these methods for approaching colleagues or employees who appear to be struggling with their mental health, and suggested resources or training methods to adopt.
Identifying the signs
There are signs that someone needs help, and it starts with observable changes in their behaviour, says Christina Fuda, Mental Health Training Coordinator, Communications and Public Affairs, Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences.
“Particularly in the workplace, we’re looking for changes in, possibly, attendance. Are we seeing them call in sick more?” she says. “But we can also see changes in their work performance.
“One of the big things that we’ll notice when people are feeling overwhelmed or stressed is [they make] more mistakes.”
Isolation from colleagues is another sign someone might be struggling.
“The person that maybe used to have lunch with everyone is now spending it in their car or just at their desk,” says Fuda. “And when we think of remote work you might notice that their camera is always off during team meetings, [when] they used to have their camera on.
“We’re just looking for subtle changes like that.”
Concerningly, CU‘s survey finds 58% of P&C pros say they haven’t taken a single day off this year to address a mental health issue. Of those who’ve taken time off to address mental health concerns, 14% say they’ve taken one day, and 16% have taken two-to-three days.
“I think suffering in silence has so many other side effects that we don’t realize, in terms of how it affects the work we’re doing. You really, truly cannot be present in the moment when you’re suffering day in and day out,” says Neha Gupta, director of corporate strategy and customer experience at Allstate.
Once the signs of poor mental health have been identified, it’s important to avoid ‘you’ statements, which can come off as discipline, says Fuda.
“Try to avoid ‘you’ statements like, ‘You’ve been missing work,’ ‘You’ve been making more mistakes,’ ‘You’ve been doing this,’” she says.
It’s better to frame your concern with an ‘I’ statement, Fuda says, like “‘I’m noticing that you haven’t been having lunch with us for the past month, and I just want to see how you’re doing.’”
But even if you observe these behaviours from a colleague, it doesn’t mean they’re ready to address them.
“When you follow up a week later and you say, ‘Hey, you know what, I probably caught you off guard. Why don’t we go for lunch next Friday?’ [or] ‘Why don’t we have a coffee on Tuesday?’— now you’re giving them time to process that you’ve noticed changes. Fuda says doing this will give the employee a chance to reflect on their own wellbeing.
“Then, when you have that coffee or that lunch a couple of days later, now you’ll have a more genuine conversation.”
Ultimately, panellists emphasize that care and kindness are the ultimate ways to form trust and enable colleagues or employees to open up about their struggles.
“Being intentional in approaching conversations with compassion, recognizing that we’re all going through something, and we don’t always know what that something is, would be a key takeaway,” says Tammie Kip, co-founder of FIHT (Friends of the Industry Healing Together) and past president of the Ontario Insurance Adjusters Association.
However, Kip emphasizes not everyone will be comfortable sharing their personal struggles, “and that’s okay,” she says.
“I think the environment has to be such that someone can come to me…and say, ‘Listen, I need some time to deal with some things,’ and I’m going to be okay with that,” she says. “It’s creating that trust.”
Where to turn
Training and education around mental health is one of the more successful ways of creating workplace trust, says Fuda.
“Really educating your workforce and knowledge-building starts with training courses [about] how to help employees identify signs of mental illness in themselves, in others, and know where to go,” she says.
Fuda’s own Shore Centre can help with employee training. And other organizations — like the Mental Health Commission of Canada, which sets The National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace — can help employers create psychologically safe workspaces.
Plus, it’s possible P&C employees are looking for mental health resources at work, but don’t know where to turn, or their workplaces lack the right resources.
When asked to choose what mental health resources were available at their companies, 70% of survey respondents highlighted the availability of Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs). Next came digital health information (42%), followed by paid leave programs (30%) and webinars (27%).
However, not all employees were aware of EAPs. For example, 94% of insurer administration or operations departments were aware of EAPs, compared to only 51% in broker sales.
Fuda recommends people call or text 9-8-8, which is the suicide prevention hotline, if they’re experiencing a mental health crisis.
Feature image by iStock.com/HAKINMHAN
