Digital Training Program for Line Managers (Managing Minds at Work): Protocol for a Feasibility Pilot Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Background Mental health problems affect 1 in 6 workers annually and are one of the leading causes of sickness absence, with stress, anxiety, and depression being responsible for half of all working days lost in the United Kingdom. Primary interventions with a preventative focus are widely acknowledged as the priority for workplace mental health interventions. Line managers hold a primary role in preventing poor mental health within the workplace and, therefore, need to be equipped with the skills and knowledge to effectively carry out this role. However, most previous intervention studies have directly focused on increasing line managers’ understanding and awareness of mental health rather than giving them the skills and competencies to take a proactive preventative approach in how they manage and design work. The Managing Minds at Work (MMW) digital training intervention was collaboratively designed to address this gap. The intervention aims to increase line managers’ knowledge and confidence in preventing work-related stress and promoting mental health at work. It consists of 5 modules providing evidence-based interactive content on looking after your mental health, designing and managing work to promote mental well-being, management competencies that prevent work-related stress, developing a psychologically safe workplace, and having conversations about mental health at work. Objective The primary aim of this study is to pilot and feasibility test MMW, a digital training intervention for line managers. Methods We use a cluster randomized controlled trial design consisting of 2 arms, the intervention arm and a 3-month waitlist control, in this multicenter feasibility pilot study. Line managers in the intervention arm will complete a baseline questionnaire at screening, immediately post intervention (approximately 6 weeks after baseline), and at 3- and 6-month follow-ups. Line managers in the control arm will complete an initial baseline questionnaire, repeated after 3 months on the waitlist. They will then be granted access to the MMW intervention, following which they will complete the questionnaire post intervention. The direct reports of the line managers in both arms of the trial will also be invited to take part by completing questionnaires at baseline and follow-up. As a feasibility pilot study, a formal sample size is not required. A minimum of 8 clusters (randomized into 2 groups of 4) will be sought to inform a future trial from work organizations of different types and sectors. Results Recruitment for the study closed in January 2022. Overall, 24 organizations and 224 line managers have been recruited. Data analysis was finished in August 2023. Conclusions The results from this feasibility study will provide insight into the usability and acceptability of the MMW intervention and its potential for improving line manager outcomes and those of their direct reports. These results will inform the development of subsequent trials. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05154019; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05154019 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) DERR1-10.2196/48758

A Framework for Protecting and Promoting Employee Mental Health through Supervisor Supportive Behaviors

“…Only recently have organizational scholars and practitioners begun to understand and develop interventions that address workplace conditions/organizational factors that contribute to decrements in mental health of workers (e.g., Dimoff & Kelloway, 2016 ; Thomson et al, 2023 ). Thus, we argue that reducing psychosocial hazards in the workplace is critical, and one way to do this is through positive resources that promote and protect employees’ mental health, such as increasing supervisor social support.…”

“…The second is the Managing Minds at Work online training program ( Blake et al, 2022 ; Thomson et al, 2023 ). This program is also online and incorporates most of the MHSSBs, while primarily focusing on improving managers’ own mental health, understanding ways of redesigning work to promote employee mental health, improving psychological safety for employees and the associated conversations needed.…”

“…This program is also online and incorporates most of the MHSSBs, while primarily focusing on improving managers’ own mental health, understanding ways of redesigning work to promote employee mental health, improving psychological safety for employees and the associated conversations needed. Effectiveness data thus far demonstrates positive impacts on manager behavioral intentions related to preventing declines in mental health and protecting positive mental health, however mental health-related data from employees has not yet been examined ( Blake et al, 2022 ; Thomson et al, 2023 ).…”

“…Evidence-based interventions to reduce or prevent adverse mental health outcomes at work are almost non-existent, and of those that do exist, most are focused on individual-level/tertiary prevention, as opposed to organizational-level/primary prevention strategies (e.g., Anger et al, 2024 ; Aust et al, 2023 ; Edgelow et al, 2022 ; Rosado-Solomon, 2023 ). Even fewer trainings have focused on building manager skills to support employees and only two approaches, to our knowledge, integrate proactive and responsive supportive strategies in such trainings ( Hammer et al, 2023b ; Thomson et al, 2023 ). One of these trials even provides effectiveness data demonstrating significant positive impacts on manager learning and reaction criteria, as well as on employee reductions in anger and loneliness, important risk factors for mental health challenges ( Hammer et al, 2023b ; Mohr et al, 2023 ).…”

Typology of employers offering line manager training for mental health

“…British Safety Council, MHFA England, Mind) in addition to commercially developed programmes at cost, there are few LM training programmes that have been developed using evidence-based processes, with training content relevant to the current work climate, and outcomes for employers and employees tested in a randomized trial. Our LM training programme called ‘Managing Minds at Work’ [ 39 ] meets this evidence gap and is currently being implemented within organizations as part of a randomized feasibility trial [ 40 ]. Moving forward, future research could explore whether organizations offering LM training engage in other mental health and well-being practices, and whether the provision of LM training in mental health is associated with organizational outcomes, such as sickness absence, presenteeism and business performance.…”