Julia Shervington from mental health charity Mates in Mind explores how you can look after your workforce – and yourself by following this guidance
With World Mental Health Day coming up on the 10 October, now is a really good time to look at how employers can build a mentally resilient workforce. Although awareness dates such as this provide a good opportunity to draw attention to the issues, building positive mental health in and through work should always be part of an employer’s agenda.
First, do you know what mental health, ill-health and illness are?
Mental health: everyone has mental health; it can vary from good to poor and be anywhere in between. It can fluctuate over an hour, day, week, year. It can be impacted by our work, our personal lives and sometimes a crossover between the two. It is also almost impossible to compartmentalise our lives, because in today’s working environment the distinctions between the ‘health’ we bring to work
and the ‘health’ we have because of work are becoming increasingly hard to distinguish.
Mental ill-health: is a broad term encompassing a range of experiences that would not meet the criteria of an illness, e.g. stress, low mood, feeling overwhelmed. These tend to be temporary but can
be difficult to go through.
Mental illness: is a diagnosed condition with specific criteria, it can significantly affect a person’s thinking, feeling and behaviour, it requires professional diagnosis and treatment, e.g. depression, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder.
Having identified the different forms of mental health experiences, we now turn to the practical skills, knowledge and tools you need to help make work good for workers’ mental health.
How to spot the signs of mental ill-health
As we all know, everyone is different, so the signs that someone is experiencing stress or burnout will vary from one person to another, but as an overview the signs can include:
- Disrupted sleep
- Muscle tension
- Stomach or bowel upset
- Anxiety or depression
- Heart conditions
- Feeling restless or agitated
- Feeling tearful
- Not wanting to talk to or be with people
- Using alcohol or drugs to cope with feelings
- Finding it hard to cope with everyday things
- Being late, absent or exhibiting ‘presenteeism’ at work
- Lack of concentration
- Not finding the joy in life.
Here are some free resources that can help you better understand the signs:
Download an infographic: bit.ly/MinM-DMres
Watch a short video: bit.ly/MinMvSpot
How to start a conversation
This may seem daunting, but remember, asking if that person is okay is more likely to help, than harm. Here is some guidance on how to do that:
- Take them seriously
- Do not avoid the topic
- Ask open questions
- Do not blame
- Provide reassurance, respect and support.
For more guidance on how to start a conversation (all employees), how to manage a conversation (management), and/or how to become a Mental Health First Aider (MHFA), please visit our training page:
bit.ly/MinM-DMtrain
Watch a short video: bit.ly/MinMvStart
How to signpost support
If you have spotted that someone is behaving out of character, and you are speaking with them, please remember that you are not expected to have all of the answers. You may need to signpost the person to further support, e.g. your Human Resources (HR) department or Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) if you have one). You may need to call 111, refer them to their GP or mental health team. You can find a list of professional help services at this link: bit.ly/MinM-DMhelp
Watch a short video on ways to refer the person to the appropriate place: bit.ly/MinMvSign
How to build a culture of prevention
Many organisations are doing great work in building positive mental health in their own workplaces, raising awareness of and removing the stigma around mental health. However, there is also still too much variation and inconsistency, with support focused on when someone reaches crisis, rather than looking to identify and mitigate the contributing factors.
We recommend the following steps:
Management: gaining management buy-in is an essential first step in ensuring that mental wellbeing is integrated into the organisation. Through open, collaborative and inclusive communication, management can achieve wider organisational buy-in and manage any resistance to change.
Assessment: assess the current situation, identify any gaps in provision and determine necessary changes. This can involve desk research (reviewing existing policies/health support, analysing sickness records, staff turnover rates and reasons for leaving), as well as consulting with employees.
Targets: define your vision and plan how to achieve it.
Education: provide the entire workforce (employees, including apprentices and new starters) with the skills, knowledge, tools and confidence to create a peer support network, which will contribute to building a safer workplace for everyone.
Support: ensure there is sufficient support available at the point of need by offering relevant provisions (MHFAs, HR, EAPs etc.), to all employees, supply chains and contractors. If you work for a large organisation or trade body, you can find out how to support the SMEs and sole traders working with you through our Champions Programme: bit.ly/MinM-DMchamp.
To ensure the success of this strategy, it is important to:
Communicate: provide relevant, timely and accessible communication materials to the workforce, demonstrating an open and supportive culture to address the stigma of mental health and encourage conversations.
Progress: review the above stages at least every two years to evaluate the current situation, demonstrate progress and identify new targets for the future.
Mentoring: create peer support networks across the organisation, supply chain and contractors.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: as part of an inclusive culture, it is important that the diverse workforce know that their needs – physical, mental, financial, religious, physiological etc. – are known, understood, respected, valued and integrated.
Policies: employers have a duty of care to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of their employees, and to protect employees with mental ill-health/illness against discrimination and harassment. Therefore, it is important to ensure you have a mental health policy in place.
Behaviours: it is important to call out any examples of someone exhibiting inappropriate behaviours, such as: bullying; ignoring requests for support; using offensive, prejudiced or stigma inducing language; making jokes about, or belittling the importance of, mental health which reinforces the stigma.
Our blog series provides more information on how to optimise your own mental wellbeing as well as that of your employees: bit.ly/MinM-DMblogs.
In this article, we have just scratched the surface of how to build a mentally resilient sector, and have highlighted where you can get more information, guidance and resources.
If you would like to find out more about how Mates in Mind can support your organisation on its mental health journey, please visit our website: matesinmind.org/supporting-us/become-a-supporter, email: support@matesinmind.org, or call: 020 3510 5018 and one of our Support Managers will be happy to help.