Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER AUGUST 2018 NEWS 9 Assessing managerial eff ectiveness on the road to total health How employees perceive their managers is fundamental to workplace wellness BY BILL HOWATT BESIDES employee engagement scores, how can human resourc- es assess employees' workplace experience? The first step is to consider what factors most infl uence the experience. Here are fi ve factors that have an impact on how employees think and feel in the workplace: Job fi t: e degree to which they feel they're suited for their individual role. Job satisfaction: e degree to which they enjoy and fi nd their role fulfi lling and meaningful. Culture: e degree to which they like the people they work with, and how they perceive the behaviour and treatment of each other. HR policies, procedures and programs: The degree to which they feel things are fair and the feelings of value exuded by the organization (for example: opportunities for learning and development). Occupational health and safety: e degree to which they feel psychologically and physically safe in the workplace. I recently published a white paper, e Next Human Capital Management Trend: De-Siloing HRM and OHS to Achieve Inte- grated Worker Health, with Glyn Jones on how HR and OHS can be better integrated to infl uence all the above factors. (See www. hrreporter.com/human-capital- management-trend.) ough all the factors are im- portant, perhaps one of the most infl uential is the employee-man- ager relationship. With the Total Health Index (THI), we measure management eff ectiveness, meaning the degree to which employees perceive their direct managers' eff ectiveness and fairness in how they supervise, support and lead employees. THI research shows there is a high relationship between the em- ployee-manager relationship and employees' perception of their di- rect managers' eff ectiveness. At face value, it makes sense that when employees trust their managers and think they're ef- fective at what they do, it can af- fect employees' overall workplace experience. What may not be so evident is the infl uence of the employee- manager relationship on employ- ees' total health. Mining the data In looking at tens of thousands of THI individual assessment reports and cutting the data by way of a "management eff ective- ness scale," the fi ndings provide evidence of the benefi t to ensuring leaders have the knowledge and skills to work eff ectively with their employees so they can eff ectively build their trust and confi dence. e management eff ectiveness scale measures employee percep- tions of their direct manager as either high, neutral or low. In Canada, 59 per cent of em- ployees believe their manager is eff ective; 41 per cent are neutral or have a negative perception of their direct manager. In statistics, a Spearman rank correlation coeffi cient of 0.80 pro- vides strong evidence that employ- ees with higher scores in manage- ment eff ectiveness are more likely to also report more satisfaction with workplace experience. Scorecard for managers In addition, employees who re- ported high degrees of stress were more likely to report a lower score for their perception of their direct managers' eff ectiveness. Employees with a higher score with respect to manager eff ec- tiveness also reported — on av- erage — higher scores with re- spect to mental health, especially when it came to having a lower risk for anxiety, depression and burnout. e table above provides a sum- mary of some of the fi ndings in the THI research showing the diff er- ences between employees who fall in each of the three management eff ectiveness categories. The metrics provide a snap- shot of how employees in each category perceive their work- place experience and the impact on their health, engagement and productivity. Educate, integrate • At a minimum, once a year, obtain a baseline of leaders' management eff ectiveness to determine the areas to improve and to identify managers who could benefi t from coaching, training and development to improve their management eff ectiveness. • Educate people leaders on the relationship between management eff ectiveness and employee health, engagement and productivity to provide context for why what a leader does with respect to their employees matters. • Explore the integration of OHS and HR programs to make it easier for managers to access knowledge, skills and tools to understand the importance of their role in creating a psychologically safe workplace, preventing mental injuries and promoting employees' mental health. Bill Howatt, Ph.D., Ed.D., is the chief of research and develop- ment, workforce productivity, at Morneau Shepell in Toronto. For more information and education about the Total Health Index, visit www.morneaushepell.com. 12-PART SERIES This is the seventh of a 12- part series on total health that will explore the links between employees' health, engagement and productivity: 1. The total health framework 2. The 4 pillars of the Total Health Index 3. Senior leadership 4. Resiliency 5. Alcohol consumption 6. A respectful workplace 7. Manager effectiveness 8. Financial health 9. Going beyond traditional engagement 10. Productivity 11. Mental health 12. Physical activity, nutrition, sleep Evaluating leaders with the Total Health Index 75 79% 20% 80% 83% 76 81 74 67 63% 36% 63% 66% 62 64 65 59 41% 61% 40% 48% 43 51 59 Manager effectiveness score High positive perception Neutral perception High negative perception Trust index score Total Health Index Percentage reporting coming to work feeling unwell Percentage feeling psychologically safe in the workplace; PHS factor 12 Percentage feeling psychological and social support: PHS factor 1 Workplace experience score Respectful workplace score Productivity index By registering, you'll get a unique perspective on the health of your workplace. The Employee Recommended Workplace Award looks at all four components of total health – physical, mental, work and life – and their impact on engagement and productivity. When you register, you'll receive: • The Employee Recommended Workplace Survey for your employees • An aggregated report that identifi es your organization's strengths and areas for improvement • Actionable insights into improving the total health of your employees • A chance to be named an Employee Recommended Workplace! You've worked hard to build a healthy workplace. Get recognized for it! Register now for the 2019 Employee Recommended Workplace Award. To fi nd out more visit employeerecommended.com M O R N E A U S H E P E L L T H E G L O B E A N D M A I L 20 19 Employee Recommended Workplace The Employee Recommended Workplace Award, developed by Morneau Shepell and the Globe and Mail, recognizes excellence in achieving a healthy, engaged and productive workforce. It is the only award of its kind that is based entirely on feedback from employees. Why register for the Employee Recommended Workplace Award? MS-HRReporter_1/4pg_ad_201803_v1.indd 1 2018-03-09 5:38 PM JOINT VENTURE BY:

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