Seeking 5 EU Co-Organizers: Mechanism Against Bad Management | Reducing Costs Related to Bad Management (Sick Leaves, Employees' Lack of Motivation and Productivity)

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Should management become a regulated profession in Europe?

Hello everyone,

I would like to explore the possibility of launching a European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) to establish a European Managerial Aptitude Certification (EMAC).

The basic idea is simple:

If someone is given professional responsibility and authority over other people's working lives, shouldn't there be minimum European standards for the knowledge and skills required to exercise that responsibility?

At the moment, people can become managers in very different ways. Some receive extensive training in leadership and people management, while others can become responsible for employees with little or no formal preparation in areas such as communication, conflict management, workplace psychology, psychosocial risks, harassment prevention, or supporting employees experiencing mental-health difficulties. In all cases, there are a lot of people suffering from bad management. They sometimes go on sick leave. It does cost expensive for everyone. I believe this deserves a serious European discussion.

Why management and mental health?

I am not claiming that every mental-health problem is caused by a manager. Mental health is influenced by many factors, including personal circumstances, workload, job security, working hours, working conditions and many other factors.

However, major public-health organisations recognise that the way work is organised and managed can affect workers' mental health.

The World Health Organization (WHO) identifies psychosocial risks at work including excessive workloads, understaffing, long or inflexible working hours, lack of control, poor organisational culture, limited support from management or colleagues, authoritarian supervision, unclear roles, discrimination, violence, harassment and bullying.

The WHO specifically recommends training managers so that they can recognize and respond to emotional distress, communicate openly, listen actively and understand how workplace stressors affect mental health.

Importantly, this does not mean turning managers into psychologists or doctors. Managers should be able to recognize problems, respond appropriately and direct employees towards qualified professional support when necessary.

The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) similarly identifies poor work organization and management, excessive workloads, unclear roles, ineffective communication and lack of support from management as potential psychosocial risks.

EU-OSHA also highlights the important role managers can play in preventing and managing psychosocial risks and the importance of appropriate manager training.

Is there evidence that manager training can help?

There is research suggesting that it can.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of workplace interventions found that training managers in mental-health-related knowledge and skills improved managers' knowledge, reduced stigmatizing attitudes and improved their reported behaviour when supporting employees experiencing mental-health problems.

The researchers were more cautious about whether these interventions directly reduced employees' psychological symptoms, because there were not enough studies to establish that conclusively.

There is also a particularly interesting randomized controlled trial published in The Lancet Psychiatry. Researchers studied a mental-health training programme for managers in an Australian fire and rescue organisation.

After six months, the trained group had a reduction in work-related sickness absence, equivalent to approximately 6.45 fewer hours per employee over six months. The researchers also noted that further research was needed to establish how widely the findings could be applied.

This does not prove that an EMAC system would reduce sickness absence across the European Union.

But it does show that manager training can be studied as a workplace-health intervention and that its effects may extend beyond the managers themselves.

Why could this matter to Europe?

Mental-health problems can affect people's quality of life, ability to work and participation in the labour market. They can also create costs for employers and wider society.

The WHO estimates that approximately 15% of working-age adults have a mental disorder at any given time, and has estimated enormous economic costs associated with depression and anxiety through lost productivity.

The point is that if workplace organisation and management are one of the factors that can influence mental health, then improving managerial competence could potentially be one part of a broader European strategy for healthier workplaces.

What could EMAC involve?

The purpose would not simply be to create another bureaucratic certificate.

The important question should be:

What does someone actually need to know and be able to do before being given substantial responsibility for other people's work?

A future EMAC curriculum could potentially include:

communication and active listening;

constructive feedback;

conflict resolution;

respectful and ethical leadership;

recognition and prevention of psychosocial risks;

workload and work-organisation principles;

prevention of bullying and harassment;

equality and non-discrimination;

basic employment and occupational-health responsibilities;

psychological safety;

managing organisational change;

handling difficult conversations;

recognising when an employee may need professional support;

knowing when to refer someone to occupational-health, medical or psychological services;

understanding the boundaries between management and healthcare;

reasonable workplace supportand accommodation;

worker participation and consultation;

ethical decision-making;

managing performance without humiliation or abusive behaviour;

managing stress and pressure;

understanding how managerial decisions can affect employee wellbeing.

And one principle would be extremely important:

EMAC should not turn managers into doctors or psychologists.

A competent manager should know the difference between a management problem, an occupational-health problem and a situation requiring qualified medical or psychological assistance.

There are many questions we would need to solve

I don't believe the idea should be launched as though every detail has already been decided. This point is very important.

There are serious questions that need to be researched:

Who should need EMAC?

Would it apply to every person who supervises employees, or only people with formal managerial authority? (I think both, but the debate is open).

What about team leaders, project managers, directors, entrepreneurs and people who employ others? (I think they do need this certification , but the debate is open).

What should the examination measure?

We would need scientifically validated competencies rather than subjective opinions about what constitutes a "good manager."

How often should certification be renewed?

Who should administer EMAC?

How should existing managers be treated?

How could small businesses avoid disproportionate administrative costs?

How would EMAC interact with the different labour laws of EU Member States?

Does the European Union actually have the legal competence to introduce such a system, and what would be the appropriate legal basis?

And that is exactly why I am looking for other people in here.

What I am looking for?

Let's investigate whether we can make my idea scientifically sound, legally possible and practically workable.

You don't need to be an expert.

You simply need to be genuinely interested in the idea and willing to help investigate it.

So here's my question to you:

Would you be interested in helping investigate and potentially build a European Citizens' Initiative for a European Managerial Aptitude Certification (EMAC)?

If yes, please comment below or send me a private message.

And if you know someone working in occupational health, psychology, HR, employment law, management, worker representation or EU policy who might be interested, please tag them or send them this post.

I'm particularly interested in finding people from different EU countries, because the organizers' group needs citizens living in at least seven different Member States.

We don't have to agree on every detail at the beginning.

We can start with one question:

Should Europe establish minimum competency standards for people who are given professional responsibility for managing other human beings?

If you think this question deserves to be investigated, I'd love to hear from you.