HR Advice: 4 Effective Ways Of Dealing With Work Place Depression

By Jane Gakaria,
Do you sometimes find yourself missing several work deadlines, working more slowly than usual or just lacking the ability to concentrate? Well, if you answered ‘yes’, this might be more than just procrastinating your job and you could actually be suffering from workplace depression.

Recently, Martha Wambui* wrote an email to us asking if there are possible ways to deal with depression at the work place. “I’ve been working with an insurance company, located in Kisumu and for the past two months I’ve been depressed and can’t seem to figure out whether it’s because of tight deadlines or pressure to perform. Is there a way out of this situation?”

Speaking to Martin Githaiga a HR Officer with Corporate Staffing Services, he says employee depression is quite common than most people would think. “Several things that might cause it include stress, pressure to perform or to meet tight deadlines, poor interpersonal relationships at the office, harassment from colleagues or if one dislikes their job.”

He cites an example of a work colleague he previously worked with who suffered from workplace depression. “She had too much on her plate! She would constantly be given too much work and the boss wasn’t willing to understand why she wasn’t performing. Plus it didn’t help that she never got along with the boss.

Eventually she was transferred to a different branch where she could cope with the work.”

So what exactly are the characteristics of employee depression? Some signs of workplace depression can include decreased job performance, missed deadlines, working more slowly than usual, absenteeism, inability to concentrate and lack of involvement.

Mr. Githaiga shares some tips on how employees can deal with depression. He says,  “Well, to begin with employees could share their concerns with other colleagues or even talk to people who’ve passed through similar situations on how to handle the depression.”

Building better professional interrelationships at the office, reporting any harassment or abuse cases to your HR Manager, for after all they are there to help you. And if need be, as a last resort, you may quit your job and look for another with at least better working conditions.

In conclusion, Mr. Githaiga cautions that workplace depression isn’t just an employee problem, as employers too should take an active role in solving the issue. Certain steps that employers can take may include monitoring the workplace keenly to ensure it is a safe environment for employees, adjusting workload, job design and giving employees leave when necessary.

Lastly, employers can also perform annual risk assessments to determine job stressors in the workplace which include employee absenteeism, safety accidents and turnover rates.

So should you be suffering from workplace depression, ensure you take the necessary steps to get the help you need.

After all, you know what they say: a happy employee makes a happy employer.

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