Bosses Rarely Take 'Mental Health Days' Off; They Should
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
With your money briefing, I'm Charlie Turner in New York for The Wall Street Journal. Bosses who are reluctant to take mental health days off from work may come to regret it. J.R. Whelan will talk with workplace and career psychologist Andrea Gigline. First, here are some money headlines. With a college admissions scandal still simmering, the Education Department is looking into a tactic that's been used in some Chicago suburbs. Sources tell the Wall Street Journal that wealthy parents have transferred legal guardianship of their college-bound children to relatives or friends so the teens can claim financial aid. The strategy caught the department's attention amid a spate of guardianship transfers in the Chicago area.
It means that only the children's earnings were considered in their financial aid applications, not the family income or savings. That reportedly has led to awards of scholarships and access to federal financial aid designed for the poor. Several universities in Illinois say they're looking into the practice, which is legal. And if you have a Capital One card, head to WSJ.com for the article, The Capital One Data Breach, What It Means for You.
Why are managers and business owners reluctant to take mental health days?
A hacker accessed the information of 100 million Capital One credit card customers and applicants in the U.S. and 6 million in Canada. It's one of the largest ever data breaches of a big bank. It also means the hacker could use your information to apply for credit cards. The journal lists some tips for those who possess or have applied for a Capital One card. First, freeze your account. It'll prevent new lines of credit from being opened in your name, and it doesn't affect your credit score. It's free and guaranteed by federal law.
How does burnout increase as employees move into management roles?
Next, change your passwords and set up a two-factor authentication for all your financial profiles and online accounts. Finally, monitor your credit card activity and credit reports.
Pretty often we tell ourselves or hear our coworkers that they need a mental health day to drain the stresses of work. But we rarely hear that from bosses or managers or above. Workplace and career psychologist Andrea Gigline is on the line with us. She says that needs to change. So Andrea, typically we hear about rank and file employees taking mental health days. Do managers get lost in that conversation?
They absolutely. Managers, entrepreneurs, anyone as you move up in whatever career path you're marching on, all of a sudden you pretend as though moving up makes all the stresses that got you there and that continue to be there mysteriously vanish. When in fact, in my opinion, there's a subtle increase caused by the fact that you go silent that they're bothering you anymore.
So what happens to a business when a boss or manager or a business owner really neglects to address their feelings of burnout?
I've had in everyone's career, you have people who come in and they say one thing and it just, you know, hits in your mind. One very recent for me was a business owner and we were actually at a nonprofit event and he began to explain to me what his personal life was like. It entailed him having responsibility for his aging parents who had had strokes and cancers, trying to maintain relationships, all of this outside the work. And then he said something very profound. When things go wrong for me, they don't just go wrong for me. They go wrong for my 25 employees.
What downstream effects can a burnt-out boss have on staff and operations?
And at that moment, I knew why I do the work I do, but it was so representative and so truthful. That's the implication right there.
So this can be a domino effect and snowball and really bring down, have negative effect on the entire organization.
Correct. Because when a manager, boss, owner is the one experiencing the increased stressors and they are not taking care of themselves, the things we're talking about, we will never avoid. You will never avoid all of a sudden having customers who aren't good to work with, all of a sudden having managers who aren't good to work with, all of a sudden having employees who don't do what they're supposed to do.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:05–1:12
2
Why are managers and business owners reluctant to take mental health days?
1:12–1:42
3
How does burnout increase as employees move into management roles?
1:42–3:35
4
What downstream effects can a burnt-out boss have on staff and operations?
3:35–5:29
5
How prevalent is depression and burnout among small business owners?
5:29–7:30
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from WSJ Your Money Briefing
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