How to Support an Employee in Distress

Recent research has a counterintuitive finding: People who have suffered troubles at work may not be effective in helping other employees experiencing similar distress. Those who have not endured the same thing are more likely to be more effective. In trying to help employees in distress, leaders should  focus on each person’s experience, not their own; validate their pain; and get the facts and ask questions to learn how they might help the employee. Leaders should also consider having someone who has not suffered the same problem mentor the person.

Think back to the last time you were struggling at work. If you chose to share your distress with a colleague, to whom did you turn? Many of us intuitively look to our colleagues who have experienced our same struggles, but our recently published research suggests you should rethink this approach. In a series of three studies, more than 600 employees from multiple industries across the United States told us about their experiences in sharing their work-related angst with others and how they responded to others who were experiencing such difficulties. Our finding: It is not always wise to seek support from colleagues who have been in the same situation.

Reut Livne-Tarandach is the Louis F. Capalbo Chair of Business Administration and an associate professor of management at Manhattan College’s O’Malley School of Business. She is also a faculty affiliate of the Center for Positive Organizations at the University of Michigan’s Stephen M. Ross School of Business and a research fellow at the University of Louisville’s Center for Positive Leadership.Hooria Jazaieri is an assistant professor of management at Santa Clara University’s Leavey School of Business. She also serves as a science advisor at the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley, and is a licensed psychotherapist in California.