Originally published by the Australian Institute of Health & Safety

Australian executives and senior decision-makers face unique mental health pressures that required specific support strategies, according to the National Mental Health Commission.

In a recent report, the Commission highlighted how complex circumstances, including environmental disruptions, geopolitical instability, legislative reforms and pandemic impacts, exposed executives to additional work-related stressors affecting their mental health.

“Being in a position of influence, it is important to appreciate how you can use your influence to create mentally healthy workplaces that protect, respond to and promote mental health,” said the report, A mentally healthy workplace for executives and decision makers.

While executive roles offered benefits like autonomy and access to support resources, these advantages often came with heightened demands and pressures – with an increase in resignation rates among executives seeking greater work-life balance and wellbeing.

The report was developed through targeted interviews with executives across private and public sector organisations, followed by workshops with an expert reference group comprising representatives from various sectors and industries. This was complemented by an extensive review of academic and industry literature examining factors enabling or hindering executive effectiveness in high-pressure environments.

The report identified several critical challenges faced by executives and decision-makers. These included dealing with unprecedented events, supporting others’ mental health, managing high workloads and responsibility levels, navigating public scrutiny, and handling decision fatigue.

Loneliness emerged as a significant mental health challenge for executives, with up to half of executives and decision-makers felt lonely while almost two-thirds reporting that loneliness hindered their job performance.

“Many executives describe realising that once they reach a leadership position, their peers no longer exist within the organisation. They are outside the organisation – for example, the CEO of another organisation,” the report noted.

The report emphasised how social connectedness predicted overall wellbeing and increased resilience to stress and trauma. Building high-quality connections at work was identified as crucial for creating mentally healthy workplaces.

Public scrutiny posed another significant challenge. The report said stakeholders now had real-time access to decisions, outcomes and news about executives’ successes and missteps through technology and social media, exposing them to constant examination.

The report outlined practical strategies for organisations to support executive mental health. These included implementing clear processes for executives to safely express concerns, providing access to peer support networks, and ensuring appropriate governance frameworks.

The report recommended organisations implement key actions to protect executive mental health:

• Creating visible, actioned and long-term commitments to mentally healthy workplace strategies that included dedicated funding and clear implementation measures.
• Establishing working groups or ‘mental health champions’ with authority to seek and action confidential feedback.
• Investing in measuring mental health outcomes through regular gathering of data and feedback.
• Setting clear cultural standards with a holistic definition of wellbeing that went beyond individual health practices to acknowledge how work was designed and managed.

The report concluded that both cultural and structural initiatives were essential to safeguard the wellbeing of decision-makers and their workers. This included balancing job demands, creating interdependent leadership teams, addressing conflict proactively, and introducing policies supporting flexible work and good job design.