Mental wellbeing: What’s on your mind?
Mental health is a topic that people in general find hard to discuss. There is a certain stigma that hasn’t quite been shaken off yet. However, that is beginning to change as more and more businesses are addressing mental health head on.
Did you know, according to a survey carried out by the charity Mind in November 2014, 95% of employees who took time off work sick due to stress gave their boss another reason for their absence, and only 5% told their employer exactly why they needed time off?
As a business there are three main areas to address –education, support and recognition. Education runs through all three areas. Employeesat all levels need to be made aware of mental health inorder to provide an environment that enables employeesto be open about it. Managers need to be given guidance on how to deal with employeeswho may have mental health issueswithout alienating them. Support should to be provided but it needs to be right for your workforce.
Putting an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)in place is a good startingpoint as itcanprovide counselling on topics which are likely to cause stress. A variety of help lines are available which cover stress, bullying, marital issues, financial problems and legaladvice.
Educational so falls into the support section. Employees need to know how to access the support network which their employer has put in place and to understand that it is completely confidential.
Recognition also requires education so mental health problems can be spotted by colleagues and managers. If someone has a history of mental health problems it is worth asking them how an episode begins for them.
If you believe you can see it starting then speak to them and find out how you can support them through it.
Asking a simple question when someone comes into work can make a big difference to their day and how they are feeling.
At Personal Group our Group HR Director, Rebekah Tapping, believes in working on preventative measures.
She said: “Your approach to mental health will depend a lot on your environment, for example the support required within the policeforce will be different to the support required in an office environment. At Personal Group we offer an EAP which provides counselling. There are different levels of EAPs and they don’t all offer face-to-face counselling, so this is something to check before putting it in place for your company. Staff need to understand that the EAP is there, that it’s free and it is anonymous. We monitor EAP stats, which are completely anonymous, but if they indicate a spike in a certain area then we look into that.
“I believe in preventative measures like the benefit of exercise on your wellbeing. Our strategy is to provide a positive environment to work in, and spot and prevent problems if possible.
We ensure employees can easily access help through our EAP when they need it. We also have a gym onsite, we offer discounted gyms through our in-house benefits programme, which all support general wellbeing. Also one of our values is ‘We have fun’ and we set up social events with employees throughout the year. We have a lot of charity activity too and have recently sent seven volunteers to Kenya to assist with educating young people out there, all of which has a positive impact.
This article is supplied by Personal Group.
In partnership with Personal Group
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