What to Do If Your Employee Seems Depressed

Employees are one of the most important keys to the success of a business. Employees can deal with customer service, production, labor, quality control, finances, and a variety of tasks that makes any business run. If an employee is in emotional distress it not only affects that person but also the work environment. Employees will not always be happy when they are working it is not humanly possible. All of us deal with many different situations daily either at home or at work. However, when an employee is affected by their emotions it is important that employers are aware of it and acknowledge it in a professional but also caring nature. If an employee seems depressed there are many things an employer can do to help. From my own personal experience, I know how hard it can be for an employer to carefully acknowledge an employees depression without embarrassing, or putting the employee in an awkward situation. That is why there are action steps an employer can follow to acknowledge and help an employee that may be depressed.

Step 1: Know the symptoms of depression

A lot of employers try to diagnose depression. My advice to employers would be to not diagnose depression, but instead to learn and get educated about the symptoms of depression. By being knowledgeable and educated about the symptoms of depression an employer can be able to properly help their employees that may be depressed. Some symptoms of depression include: stress, illnesses, death of a family member or friend, illnesses, and other causes (yahoo health).

Step 2: Observe the employee who may be depressed

After learning about the symptoms of depression observe the employee(s) who seem to be depressed. By knowing the symptoms of depression an employer can then observe their employee to see if they are expressing symptoms. Employees who may be depressed may act a certain way in a work environment and give clues to the Employer. Some clues employees may give employers include: an employees acting more irritable or upset, being less talkative, being late to work more, calling out more, acting or talking more negatively, being less happy and not smiling. These few behaviors and observations can help a employer determine how depressed a employee may be.

Step 3: Casually let your employee know that you are there for them

After observing the Employee who seems depressed an Employer can casually let them know that they are there for them. Some examples of how an Employer can do this include: giving the employee their business card and letting them know that they are available. Another way is to have a meeting with all employees and let them know if any of them are feeling stressed or emotionally overwhelmed that they are there to help them succeed in their job and are available to talk about it. Group meetings are always goo because the Employer is not putting a certain Employee on the spot but still lets them know that they are there for them.

Step 4: If their depression starts affecting their work arrange a one to one meeting

If a employer still observes that there employee still seems depressed then the next step would be scheduling a one to one meeting. An Employer then can ask in a caring way: "I've noticed (state your observations), is everything ok? Then offer if the Employee wants to talk about it. If they say yes let them tell you what's going on, and tell them what you can do to help. If they say know let them know that you are there to help them succeed professionally, and mentally.

Step 5: Offer sources that may help the Employee

An Employer can decide to do this step during, or after the meeting. The next step to do is to offer sources that may help your Employee. There are many employers that help employees suffering from depression by offering them mental health pamphlets and services that human resources, or the company provides. If the employee doesn't want to talk to the employer, at least the employer can offer them some information about programs and other resources that can help.

Step 5: Arrange time off for the employee

If the Employee still seems to be suffering from depression and it is severely affecting their work, an Employer can offer time off to their employee.

Step 6: Let your employee decide what to do

The last step for an employer to do when dealing with an employee that may be depressed is let them decide what to do. All the employer can do is let their employees know that they are there for them and that they care about their health, and their professional goals. After an Employer offers help to an employee the employee will either decide to take it or not take it.