Property management professionals and firms alike frequently face challenges during their interactions with clients and residents that sometimes feel overwhelming. If we don’t take positive steps to protect our mental health and wellbeing these stresses can become unbearable and impact not only our professional, but personal lives too. 

Recognising the importance of good mental health and wellbeing in our industry, we have developed a Mental Health and Wellbeing Series to open up the conversation on this important topic. As we continue this series we will post videos aiming to discuss the issue of Mental Health in the workplace, help members notice when their own mental health may be under strain and equip you with tools and tips on how to manage challenging situations.  We have also loaded in wellbeing videos that have been recorded from events and webinars that we have hosted for members. 

Mental Health and Wellbeing series please email, info@irpm.org.uk. 

View all of our videos below - please click on the 'grey' box to expand the section and view the video:

• A revised ‘Unreasonable Behaviour Policy’  (word version downloadable here) and a ‘Safeguarding Staff’ poster for public display
• Several resources to help employees who frequently lone work from the Suzy Lamplugh  Trust charity, the UK's pioneering personal safety charity and leading stalking authority
• IRPM Mental Health Resources
• Resources to help with ‘De-Escalation Training’
• Guidance on Social Media and Crisis Communications

Useful Resources

Prevent stress, retain workers

According to Deloitte, 61% of employees who left or planned to leave their job in 2022 said it was in full or part due to poor mental health.

This figure (.pdf) is supported by a recent report from People Management Magazine, which states many businesses say they face a significant talent retention problem, and that stress was a key reason for staff turnover.

These reports highlight how a pro-active approach to stress in the workplace can deliver significant benefits to your business. And remember if work is causing the health issue, or aggravating it, employers have a legal responsibility to prevent stress and support good mental health. To be compliant, you’ll need to do a risk assessment and act on the findings.

Here are some tips...

Get a feel for what’s going on

Consider staff surveys and existing information available, for example absence records, frequency and themes of complaints, general feedback from team.

Encourage conversations

Making it routine to talk about how people are coping and feeling is half the challenge. Promote active discussion to understand any common issues or pressure that people are experiencing so you can agree practical improvements to try.

Make notes

If you have more than 5 employees, you’ll need to write your findings and actions down. Even if you have fewer workers, it can still be helpful to make notes so you can review them later down the line.

Download a risk assessment template

Consider common causes

There are 6 key areas of work design that, if not properly managed, are associated with poor health, lower productivity and increased accident and sickness absence rates. They are:

• Demands – including issues such as workload, work patterns and the work environment
• Control – how much say the individual has in the way they do their work
• Support – the encouragement, sponsorship and resources provided by the organisation, line management and colleagues
• Relationships – promoting positive working to avoid conflict and dealing with unacceptable behaviour
• Role – whether people understand their role within the organisation and whether the organisation ensures that they do not have conflicting roles
• Change – how organisational change (large or small) is managed and communicated in the organisation.

Reach out and signpost support

Take action

Once you’ve had conversations and got a good feel for the main risk factors, you’ll need to agree action points between employer and worker. Take a look at these examples:

• Baker employs 9 people (.pdf)
• Financial services company has 40 workers (.pdf)
• College employs 150 people on multiple sites (.pdf)

Make it routine

It’s important that this is become a normal part or working life and can be done little and often to prevent issues becoming problems. Make sure you take time to reflect on the actions taken – have things improved? Make it routine to check back in on how things are going.

download the one-page round up of support and resources (.pdf)