Organisations could educate the workforce to increase knowledge and reduce the commonly held misconceptions about mental illness and repositioning it as something that is ‘normal’ and faced by many employees, says Sophie Hennekam
An increasing number of individuals is experiencing mental illness. The American Psychiatric Association defines a mental illness as ‘a clinically significant disturbance in an individual’s cognition, emotion regulation, or behaviour that reflects a dysfunction in the psychological, biological, or developmental processes underlying mental functioning. Mental disorders are usually associated with significant distress in social, occupational, or other important activities.’
Unfortunately, we know little about the way such individuals navigate the workplace, although the Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2020 of the World Health Organization calls for more insights on the way individuals deal with their mental illness in a variety of settings, such as the workplace.
This is surprising, as there are many individuals who are facing mental illness while being in employment. Worldwide, about 450 million individuals struggle with mental illness at some point in their lives, which is 14% of the world’s employed population. Their mental illness influences their functioning in the workplace.
The World Health Organization (2017) has estimated that mental illness costs the global economy $1 trillion USD in lost productivity each year and European research shows that employees with mental illness reported 3.1 absenteeism days per month, compared to one day per month among those without such an illness.
Focusing on barriers
There is a tendency to focus on the barriers and difficulties individuals with mental illness face, such as the negative perception others hold about mental illness, how it influences their capacity to function optimally or their career development opportunities. However, we know little about potential positive outcomes of having a mental illness in a workplace setting.
Drawing on 257 surveys and 15 interviews with employees with a variety of mental illnesses, we examine whether and under which circumstances mental illness can be a positive force in the workplace. We use a person-job fit lens, a theory that looks into the relationship between a person’s characteristics (their mental illness) and the job or tasks that are performed at work. Person-job fit has been conceptualised in two ways. First, the demands-abilities fit in which workers’ skills, knowledge and abilities are in line with the requirements of the job. Second, the needs-supplies or supplies-values fit referring to the match between the needs, desires or preferences of employees and the job they perform. In general, a good person-job fit tends to lead to positive outcomes, such as higher job satisfaction, organisational commitment, and lower intention to leave, while a poor person-job fit has been found to be related to negative outcomes for individuals such as lower job satisfaction, lower well-being and greater strain.
Our findings highlight that employees with mental illness possess some positive personal characteristics that are obviously not only present in individuals with mental illness but that help those individuals to navigate the workplace. Respondents mentioned several positive personal characteristics that they themselves perceived to be related to having a mental illness such as being perfectionistic, organised and having an eye for detail. They also explained they felt they had a strong work ethic, high levels of performance and unique skills such as providing a different perspective on issues. Finally, the respondents stressed being empathetic, understanding and patient, which allowed them to easily relate to and support others with mental health conditions themselves.
The respondents tended to self-select into sectors that fitted their skills and qualities and explained that those qualities made them particularly suited to work in the care sector. This match between their qualities and the needs of the care sector allowed them to feel good about themselves, which enhanced their feelings of satisfaction, self-worth and well-being. However, we also found a poor demands-abilities fit, referring to the situation in which an individual does not have the abilities to meet the demands of the organisation. Here, the respondents struggled to deal with stress and heavy workloads and got absorbed by their work. Consequently, this poor fit seemed to be related to a deterioration of their own mental health. This paradox is interesting as putting individuals with mental illness in their strength by using their skills can lead to increased feelings of self-worth and well-being but can also result in a decrease in their own mental health.
Positive implications
Our focus on potential positive implications of otherwise negative individual characteristics is in contrast with most studies that have focused on the negative implications of mental disorders. First, the findings highlight that employees with mental disorders possess some specific skills and qualities. It might be that such skills are not only related to their symptoms but are developed throughout their lives as they encounter difficult situations which leads them to develop coping mechanisms and compensatory strategies that become skills. Second, we find evidence for the demands-abilities fit where individuals self-select into jobs that fit their strengths and needs. Here, the abilities of individuals with mental illness meet the requirements of one’s work. By working in the care sector, the needs of the employees to feel valued, be recognised for what they do and feel their work is meaningful, are being met.
However, the demands-abilities fit, referring to whether the individual has the abilities required to meet the demands of the organisation, is poor. Individuals with mental illness seem to struggle to deal with the stress and the workload that seems prevalent in the care sector. As such, the needs of the individuals with mental illness are not met in that their work(over)load and sensitivity to stress make the job psychologically straining. This poor demands-abilities fit seems to be related to a deterioration of their own mental health.
We conclude by highlighting some implications for employees, managers and organisations. We feel that despite the difficulties related to having a mental illness, it is important to highlight the ways in which these people can meaningfully contribute to society through employment. While employment can reduce the symptoms of mental illness, we found that it can also make it worse. It is therefore important that individuals are mindful of their own limits when engaging in work and that colleagues and managers help them set boundaries. This paradox in which the positive emotions generated through work help them to do their job well, but also diminish the symptoms that brought them success raises the question of how we can have the best of both worlds.
How does one keep the benefits of one’s mental illness without the negative outcomes that are also typically bundled with it?
This paradox is something managers should be aware of. Moreover, organisations should try to create a workplace that is adapted to the needs of individuals with mental illness by, for example, allowing them to take time off when their symptoms flare while putting them in positions where they use their positive personal characteristics.
Many organisations are unprepared to support individuals with mental illness. Organisations could educate the workforce to increase knowledge and reduce the commonly held misconceptions about mental illness and repositioning it as something that is ‘normal’ and faced by many employees. Moreover, workplace adaptations in the form of HRM policies and practices are important as employees who have access to treatment and psychological services experience increased well-being, higher productivity, higher job satisfaction, cope better with their illness and maintain employment.
Sophie Hennekam is a Professor in the Management Department at Audencia Business School
