Don't Just Say Yes: Pressure and Patience at Work

In this episode of Inside Out: Mental Health at Work and in Life, I'm joined by Richard Thomson, Deputy Client Partner at the Leith Agency in Edinburgh. Richard has worked in marketing and advertising since 1996 and is one of the agency's mental health first aiders.

Richard works in a fast-paced, high-pressure industry. For him, a mentally healthier workplace is one that gets ahead of problems instead of reacting to each one as it comes up. He talks about how easy it is to put a spotlight on mental health for a week or a month and assume the rest will look after itself, when the pressure people are under changes from month to month. That's why he thinks it has to be a constant conversation.

We talk about patience. When someone is struggling, the first thing you try might not work, and that isn't the end of it. Richard draws on his own experience. When his father died suddenly, the Leith Agency gave him the time and space he needed, and it took him years to process. It showed him that things can linger and change over time, and how much it helps to feel secure in your job.

Richard also shares what has made a difference at the agency: listening to a staff survey and changing a decision about office days, splitting the bonus equally across everyone, yearly days where people share their views on how the company should work, and a meeting where the person who runs the company let people see how much a difficult year had affected him too.

His one change for daily working life is simple. Don't agree to something before you've checked you can do it. Say you'll help, set expectations, then come back. Otherwise the pressure gets handed down the chain to the person with the least control.

🔑 Key Topics

• Getting ahead of problems instead of reacting to them
• Why awareness weeks aren't enough on their own
• How one negative attitude can spread through a team
• Patience when you're supporting someone who is struggling
• Coming back to work after a bereavement
• Listening to staff and changing course
• Leaders letting people see they feel things too
• People pleasing, and how saying yes too quickly passes pressure down the chain
• Younger people asking open questions about how they'll be supported

💡 Did You Know?

In Richard's experience, one negative attitude in an organisation can get more airtime than ten, twelve or twenty people who feel the opposite.

📝 Actionable Takeaways

• Keep mental health support on the agenda at regular company meetings, not only in awareness weeks
• If what you try to help a colleague doesn't work, try something else, and give it time
• When someone comes back after a hard time, don't expect them to be at 100% straight away
• Before you say yes, check what it involves and set expectations
• Ask people what they need, through surveys or shared sessions, and act on what you hear
• Invite teams, including the leadership team, to share how they deal with stress

🗣️ Join the Conversation

Have you ever said yes to something at work and wished you'd said "let me check first"? Share your thoughts and connect with us on social media.