Supporting an Employee with Depression: How Can HR Help Them Thrive Again?

Dear HR Professional,

A strange issue has come to my attention. One of my employees is experiencing "depression," which has led to frequent absences, a lack of value addition to the job, and at times, being unresponsive. However, he has been a dedicated employee with our organization for the past three years and has consistently performed well.

We became aware of the situation when we noticed an increase in leave requests and, upon further inquiry, he opened up about his health struggles. We are now faced with the challenge of how to handle this situation. Termination is not an option as he is making an effort to cope with his job responsibilities. What is the best course of action for our organization to support him in overcoming his difficulties and returning to his previous level of performance?

I encourage individuals to provide feedback after carefully considering this issue.

Best Regards,
Monika Marwah

It's not as easy and clear a situation as it seems to be. Since this employee has been a good performer for the last three years and all of a sudden has undergone some dilemma or trauma due to whatever reasons, it becomes your responsibility as a Line Manager to hold a one-on-one discussion with him to understand his current situation and the potential repercussions that could impact his performance and your organization as a whole.

Take him out for some time in a conducive environment. Once you have clarity on this situation, you will be in a better position to make a wise decision without having a direct impact on him or yourself.

Thanks

Addressing Depression in the Workplace

Depression is like any other medical illness and can be treated with the help of medicine. I suggest granting him medical leave, as the course of medicine typically continues for 3 months. The first month can be straight leaves, and after that, he may continue. It all depends on your organizational setup.

The link Anita mentioned can surely be used as the first step towards finding a solution. But first and foremost, you need to be clear on the causes or reasons for the current situation of the employee—especially since you say he was a good performer earlier. Based on the little input you mentioned, it points to some personal problems and may not be related to any official issues.

I suggest first having a chat in an informal environment [to keep him at ease] and getting answers to the following points or aspects—if not already done:

1. Has he taken medical, psychiatric, or psychological help already? If yes, what's the prognosis? Is he under medication?

2. What is the cause of his depression?

3. Usually, there are two ways of handling such situations: (1) to try to resolve the situation that caused it—if possible. The presumption here is that once the causal situation is resolved, the person would normalize. (2) to enable or help the person cope with the situation effectively—especially if the causes can't be resolved [like the death of close relatives] or may be impractical to resolve.

If you can provide more information, the members will be in a better position to suggest better solutions. Also, please mention if this is in India or the USA—since your location says you are in Duluth, United States. For many psychological or psychiatric issues, the social or cultural aspects also become important.

Regards,
TS

Addressing Employee Depression: A Guide for HR

Falling prey to depression may have many reasons. Therefore, firstly, you need to arrange a meeting with the employee to identify the root cause of the depression. Friendly communication can lead to an effective outcome, especially when the employee has served the organization for the last three years. He or she deserves proper treatment both on humanitarian and corporate ethical grounds.

Regards,

If you want to assist him in coping with depression, I suggest that you learn some techniques for coping with depression by consulting a psychiatrist or by following links such as https://www.citehr.com/59004-how-get...epression.html. They might help you with some good and fruitful practices.

Regards,
Reena

From my view, you or anyone from your organization needs to consult with him as a friend. Try to understand his problem first. Get more information about his situation as well as his behavior. Only then can you sort out the problem. Firing him will not be the solution ever.