Managers cannot be expected to become workplace therapists - Lisa Oakley

Lisa Oakley from People Associates says the lines between manager and counsellor are becoming increasingly blurred. Photo / Vitaly Gariev

A manager begins the morning reviewing sales and ends it helping an employee through a disclosure about family violence, financial distress or a mental health crisis.

They are then expected back at the budget meeting, as though the conversation required no time, emotional effort or specialist judgment.

We increasingly ask managers to be coaches, counsellors, conflict resolvers and first responders to distress. Sometimes, the expectation comes close to asking them to act as therapists.

Many are barely resourced for the management job they were employed to do.

Part of this change is welcome. People do not leave grief, housing pressure or relationship breakdown outside the workplace. Those circumstances can affect attendance, concentration and safety. A humane employer should acknowledge that.