Discuss mental wellbeing
Managers often shy away from asking an employee with a mental health condition how they are doing for fear of "opening a can of worms" or getting an answer that they do not know what to do with. You probably would not think twice about asking an employee returning to work after breaking a leg how they are getting on.
Anyone can experience a mental health problem, so being able to talk about it in the workplace is important. The more conversations you can have with employees about their mental wellbeing -- not just those returning to work -- the more likely you are to identify issues and prevent further absence. You could make it a regular part of your one-to-one catch-ups to ask employees how they are coping with work and how they are doing more generally. It will not take long for this to become the norm and part of the culture of your team.
Managers' impact
As a manager, you have a significant effect on the mental wellbeing of the people in your team. We all have a different approach and natural style when it comes to management, and it is important to consider how this may affect the people around you especially someone who is returning from work following mental ill health. Consider the way you allocate work, how you communicate with your employee, the level of control and autonomy you give them and whether or not you balance challenge and support in your approach.
For example, I have just started in a new role at the BBC as the lead on mental health and wellbeing. At this early stage, I am taking time to see where we sit with our current mental health and wellbeing strategy. I will then aim to build on strengths, and over the coming months and years will be looking for areas where we can develop and implement that strategy to support the organisations needs.