This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Mental health issues are now the most prevalent cause of sick leave in Finland. It is common for an employee's declining occupational well-being to result in a sick leave referral, while nothing changes at the workplace itself.
"When this happens, the symptoms tend to reappear after a while," says doctoral researcher Pinja Ryky of the University of Helsinki. Ryky is calling for more collective methods of tackling coping problems in workplaces. Ryky's doctoral study looked at training given to managers to help them promote occupational well-being and solve related problems.
"The training approached the subject through the managers' own well-being, as well as mindfulness, or conscious presence. Such approaches disguise the organization's responsibilities in managing occupational well-being," says Ryky. The study trialed a new approach in which both instructors and participants in management training explored occupational well-being development in the long term and from the perspective of the management system.
Ultimately, however, the participants' attention remained fixed on individual traits rather than extending to the organizational level. The study recommends enhancing managers' ability to identify occupational health problems. They should be able to determine when employees require individual support and when organizational practices must change.
Managers should also regularly tackle issues collectively. For instance, when increasing stress is observed within a workplace community, both the causes and necessary changes should be considered collectively. Resolving problems together could ease managers' sense of isolation in the workplace.
"Framing occupational well-being as an individual's responsibility wears down managers as well, as it makes them personally responsible for both their own and their employees' well-being. In reality, managers also need the support of the community," says Ryky. Ryky undertook her doctoral study as part of her role as a senior specialist at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health.
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