We are thrilled to support the minds@work movement - ‘a movement for mental wellbeing in the workplace’. They have just released an appeal for ‘senior leader at Board level who is ready to inspire others with their story of recovery from mental illness’. This supports the notion that in order for things to happen or to change, it needs to be led from the top. http://www.mindsatworkmovement.com/
We have the utmost respect for Rob Stephenson who has initiated the leaderboard through his platform InsideOut. They are a social movement that is getting a lot of momentum. They task ‘senior leaders to share their stories so that employees feel more comfortable in also speaking about mental ill-health’ https://inside-out.org/leaderboard/
More and more organisations are prioritising mental health as it is the leading cause of absenteeism and presenteeism in the workplace. The Centre for Mental Health states that mental health problems cost UK workforces almost £35 billion last year. It’s no longer something that can be ignored and putting wellbeing and mental health firmly on your organisations agenda is a must.
A good starting point is to train Mental Health First Aiders and Champions who can lead the culture change in your organisations. As mentioned above, the best possible route is for senior leaders to step forward to support this plan and to ensure that some senior leaders and line managers receive training. In addition, it’s a great idea to run a Mental Health Awareness session for all employees so that your entire organisation is on the same page at the same time and the buy-in from the top filters down with the same message for all.
If you’re not sure what to do to start this process, give us call. We can do a needs analysis for your organisation as well as provide you with a variety of training options to cover both mental health and wellbeing. Or perhaps you’d like to start with training Mental Health First Aiders or organising a refresher and supervision session for those already qualified?
There are 2 important dates coming up: Suicide Prevention Day on the 10th September and World Mental Health Day 10 October. It would be great to launch a training plan to coincide with these events.
Either way, we’re here to help so give us call to see how we can support you and your organisation.
http://www.familyfocusuk.com/ 07720-591857 (Åse) 07733-434143 (Jenni)