Why 28 days is important for staff on sick leave

Hello, please let it work.

I chaired the SXSW London Star Panel last week on the subject of reverse mentoring. It is when young workers from diverse or minority backgrounds often act as senior leaders or CEO leaders. The reverse mentoring partnership is surprising in that when trust is built, it will lead to cultural change. Also, people at the top can hear what’s going on outside the enforcement corridor.

“We’ve seen a lot of people who have been working on the airlines,” said Shawn Doyle, CEO of BA, who has introduced reverse mentoring to the airline’s top managers. “I think we learned so much about what actually happens in our organization.

Patrice Gordon, an inverse mentoring expert, and someone I have long admired, put together the SXSW panel. She writes (yes!) a book called Reverse Mentoring. I think this topic could be a game-changing program in more companies, so I’ll go back to this topic soon.

As always, please email us your ideas, thoughts and tips: Hit this or a reply to isabel.berwick@ft.com

A month is a long time in business – and sick leave 🤕

Long-term illnesses are a major burden for the government and employers. Not to mention millions of people are not working as a result. Rather than despairing about the vain possibilities and the economic harms of long-term illness (2.8 million people in the UK are “economically inert” through illness), our approach is changing, especially to general mental health conditions. New government figures show that young people with mental health (ages 16-34) are 4.7 times more likely to be economically inactive than their peers.

As a society and economy, we cannot afford to drive so many people out of the workforce. The UK government continues its UK labor review led by Sir Charlie Mayfield (formerly John Lewis). It is part of a broader initiative: Get Britain Working White Paper. (There are many big capitals happening here.) All of these are good news 🗞️- But it takes time. The plan is for government recommendations to be made in the second half of 2025.

As the wise person recently told me, our challenge is to remove the link between “anxiety and avoidance” when it comes to work (and exercise, avoidance of social life, etc.). Approximately 80% of people taking leave due to mental health diagnosis will return to work within 28 days. Speedy intervention is essential. The chances of successful returns then decrease rapidly.

These figures come from experts at the Behavioral Therapeutics Lab at York University. It is simple and supported by the data to show that it is effective. As part of this week’s Ideas Festival, we spoke to toolkit developers Simon Gilbode and Dean McMillan at this week’s online event (which will be held on YouTube soon). Simon is a professor of psychology and psychoepidemiology at York University and the Hal York School of Medicine, and Dean is a professor of clinical psychology.

The program includes coaches who work with clients who are deep and deep in avoidance and retention automatically with anxiety, depression and stress-related conditions. (Coaching can be telephone or in person – and coaches can get training within a week). This may be something AI can do in the future. (Please send me an example of an AI that already does this, or an example of a similar approach.)

Dean summed up the toolkit as being like the Star Wars robot R2-D2. “There are two “rs” and two “ds”. “r” means restoring previous actions. “What kind of hobbies did you do before you started to feel this way? If a person becomes unable to manage these activities due to health, the second ‘R’ replaces them with something else.

“DS” involves gradually reducing avoidance, which is often at the heart of our behavior when we are in anxiety or depression, and then developing strategies that trigger useful behavior.

I want to see this unfold – and it’s something that employers can adapt. Rejoiced, Dean said, “It’s all free from mental disorders.”

In a nutshell, it may be difficult to help people return to work in 28 days. We may not be able to implement the “R2-D2” intervention program, but can HR department/occupational hygiene play a more aggressive/quick role? (I’d like to hear your opinions on this.)

Office Therapy

Problem: One colleague speaks so quietly that I have to ask them to repeat almost everything. I am a team manager and have many close contacts with this very quiet person. I know that the others I manage are expecting me to say something.

Should I say something or find a workaround? This person is generally introverted and very quiet, and repents conversations on this subject. As I did, we were able to hear them on video, so things worked out in the pandemic – now we are mostly in the office.

Isabel’s advice: Considering that this person certainly knows what is going on, do you think you can say something? By making sure that all one-to-one interactions are in a quiet place where both can be focused, you can “create the space” to suit their needs. Make sure there is a way to capture this colleague’s thinking. Messaging combinations and one-on-one combinations make it easier for both you.

Your team needs to work to include quiet coworkers, but they accept that they need to ask them to repeat things from time to time. Not communicating as an evasion tactic is the worst outcome. Don’t cause this.

In-person conversations with them may be helpful, but you need to prepare. Who has a coach, or coach bot, who can help with prompts and phrasing? It may be worth having a confidential chat with your HR team. We always have “asymmetric” information about our colleagues. There may be a reason for this person to speak very quietly. (In general, one thing you should know about the overwhelming sensation is that people with neural body conditions may find office environments extremely difficult.)

You can also arrange speaking/confidence training, but make sure it’s offered to the entire team. Your quiet coworkers may not accept the invitation, but perhaps others will benefit from a better communication strategy?

US workplace insights from charters: what workers want from AI and employers

For many US employers, providing career growth opportunities to workers has become challenging. Attrition is low, managers are cautious about hiring at economic uncertainty and at the point of new missions to use AI rather than people. So many staff members freeze, resulting in low engagement and everyone gets frustrated.

That frustration isn’t surprising. Kevin Delaney, editor-in-chief of future media and research firm Charter, has found in a recent survey conducted on Jobs and Career Sites that career opportunities are welcomed into the jungle and one of the top things US workers want from employers.

Not all AI is in the darkness. Companies that equip their employees with cutting-edge tools, technology and dedicated R&D budgets received a higher innovation rating in the survey. “Increasingly, our value proposition will be AI, because what employees are looking for is to teach them how to use AI,” said Alex Buder Shapiro, chief human resources officer at AI Company Jasper, at a charter event last week.

Five Top Stories from the World of Work

Are you confused or displaced? How AI shakes our work: Anjli Raval investigates what is happening in the workplace and speaks to experts about reshaping the global workforce. Good news? Human skills are still valuable.

The Brutal Truth About Today’s Layoffs: Pirita Clark argues in her column that dismissing people by phone or email is wrong and unnecessary. She talks to Google employees who have been fired like this and has good ideas for a better outcome.

Who are you calling too much? The truth about brain aging. Sarah O’Connor celebrates 40 with a great column on the longevity of our cognitive abilities. This can be maintained as long as you continue to use “high-skilled use” in your white-collar job. Everyone, please continue doing that.

Wages, Benefits, CEOs: Brooke Masters reports that there may be plans to reduce CEO pay and perk disclosure requirements. You might complain about creative pay packets and private jets, but at least it’s transparent.

Duolingo is CEO of AI-First’s Going: “I wasn’t expecting a blowback” Luis von Ahn reassured customers and staff that AI won’t replace humans, but Duolingo came after a note that “AI First” had frustrated the internet. Emma Jacobs tells him about his rage.

One more thing. . .

I’ve always been focusing on Ted Gioia’s Substack Newsletter, The Honest Broker. Ted is a jazz critic and cultural historian, and has an eclectic interest. A recent post was about “10 warning signs” that show how culture, society, and in fact everything is changing. In Ted’s view, it all becomes “the collapse of the knowledge system.” The loss of funding for science and technology research and the breakdown of career paths for knowledge workers are two trends he highlights. He also has ideas about alternatives to the current knowledge system. I’ve been thinking about it for a week.

View from the working IT community 📸

David Stone, partner at Mansion House Capital, wrote: When I stopped laughing (pictured at FT’s London headquarters), I realized it was a handsome building. As any real estate agent tells you, you can’t admire the best homes on the street when you live there. This photo helped us to thank our headquarters again 🥰.

Send your Office View (or work-from-beach view) to isabel.berwick@ft.com. All those whose photos are published will receive the admin book and the Lucky Dip from the career book. (David – I’ll hand over yours’)