Welcome to health and wellbeing in the workplace. My name is Kate Wood. I'm the work health hub manager. And my name is Gen Blakely. I'm the project coordinator. So this two hour session will provide you with a really good general understanding
of the importance of prioritizing health and wellbeing in the workplace. It is an interactive course, so please get your pen and paper ready and we will just share the screen. So just before we begin, a few quick trigger warnings and there will be some mentions of suicide, self-harm, and obviously poor mental health. So, we just want to say that during the session, it's really important that you're looking after yourself. So if at any time, you don't want to watch any other content, then please just feel free to take a break and step away from your screen, maybe let somebody know how you're feeling.
And if there's anybody around that you feel safe talking to. And yes, also reach out to us if you feel like you need any support as well.
So just before we begin we’ll cover the aims of the session. So as you said, it's going to be a really good interactive session.
So through the session we want to explore how attitudes towards mental health have changed in the workplace, explores stigma and discrimination towards mental health, and and explore the current landscape. So where we are currently in terms of mental health, in the workplace and wellbeing, understand the importance of psychological safety in the workplace.
And that's the word that talks about a lot the minute. So we're gonna have a quick look at that. And then provide an overview of, course that, is that you can gain access through the work health app called Leading Wellbeing in the workplace. And then, of course, the work life hub as well. So, yes. Fantastic. Okay. So first of all, we are going to share a short video which really encapsulates what mental health is.
Mental health is about our cognitive and emotional wellbeing. It is just as important as physical health. Mental health does not mean mental illness, although sometimes the term is used in this way. It's best to think about our mental health as existing on a continuum, rather than people being either mentally ill or mentally well. Our mental health exists on a continuum, and we move along the continuum according to various coinciding factors, such as our genetic makeup and upbringing. Particular life circumstances, and the pressure we are under at any given time.
At one end of the continuum, we have mental illness or ill health such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. And at the other end, we have mental health or mental wellness when we are thriving, content and fulfilled, we should all aim to recognize and notice changes in mental health and support each other to move along the continuum, to return to positive mental health.
The World Health Organisation describes mental health as a state of wellbeing in which
every individual realises his or her own potential and can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community. Being mentally healthy can include being resilient and able to cope with difficult times, feeling in control, being confident, feeling good about yourself, managing and expressing your emotions, building and maintaining good relationships.
We all experience times when we feel under too much pressure a worried, anxious, sad, afraid or angry. These emotions contribute to our usual state of mental health and are an expected part of our makeup. However, if these emotions are persistent over time and begin to interfere with our ability to do what we could should or want to be doing as part of our daily functioning, this could be described as a mental health issue.
With the right support, treatment and adjustments, we may well return to a state of restored mental health. Without these things, mental health issues can develop into a mental illness. There are different types of mental illness. These can be diagnosed by a health care professional, such as a GP or psychiatrist.
A mental illness can significantly impact on a person's daily functioning, interfering with family interests, social and work commitments. But it doesn't define them any more than a physical illness would. There are many ways we can support someone to understand and manage the symptoms of a mental illness, and signpost to the help needed. It's important to pay attention to your own mental health too.
It can be difficult to ask for help or to know how to offer support when you're concerned about someone's mental health. This may be due to barriers such as the stigma associated with mental health, lack of understanding around mental illness, uncertainty of how to get help, the fear of disclosing a mental illness to others, or concern about saying or doing the wrong thing. Research shows that stigma remains one of the biggest factors preventing people from raising concerns about their mental health, or seeking help early to get the support needed. It is important to remember that, just like physical health, we will experience ups and downs in our mental health. It exists on a continuum.
Together, we can challenge stigma, seek parity with physical health and develop our confidence to start a conversation about mental health. If you'd like to find out more, visit us at Newcombe. Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, or email us at. Team at more Newcomb and join us on our journey to embrace positive mental health in the workplace.
Okay, so I always think that's a really, really good video to show because mental health is on a continuum and it comes. We all have ups and downs and I think if there's only one thing you take from the session today, it is there's just like physical health. We've all got mental health and that can fluctuate. You know, under any sort of circumstances. So it really just depends on what life's throwing at us. But we should be able to talk about mental health in exactly the same way as we talk about physical health. So if we think back to before the pandemic, mental health, we were aware of it. And mental health in the workplace was lots and lots of research, being carried out, said former Stephenson review.
Deloitte did a lot of research on mental health in the workplace and back then there was it was affecting around 1 in 6 workers each year and it was the leading cause of sickness absence. It was costing the UK economy around 45 billion. And I think one of the most alarming statistics on this slide is that 300,000 people with a long-term mental health problem were losing their jobs every year.
And that is certainly when we started sort of 2019 was when we first started working with workplaces and looking at mental health, looking at how to reduce absence, presenteeism and stigma within the workplace. But it was still very much productivity was the main priority, sort of business as usual. And mental health was seen as something quite fluffy, even though it was costing the UK economy a tremendous amount.
Fast forward to the during the pandemic, and all of a sudden mental health became a priority for everybody. Now, you could argue that was because everybody was going through the pandemic. And so all of a sudden we all wanted to focus on our wellbeing. And that was obviously a contributing factor in terms of government messages, being allowed up to an hour a day for physical exercise when we were all in lockdown measures. So in lots and lots of factors played a part and there was a tremendous increase in feelings of loneliness, isolation, depression, anxiety. We all know if we had the joys of, homeschooling during that time that our young people definitely suffered, our relatives, who were perhaps in care homes or residential homes couldn't have visitors. So there was a tremendous impact to not only physical wellbeing, but also emotional and mental health. Then fast forward to after the pandemic or, you know, Life Now and the Mental Health UK of just published the burnout report for 2025. And as you can see here, 45% of UK workers do not think that their organisation has plans in place to help them manage stress and prevent burnout.
So that means that they don't feel adequately supported by their employer, which is extremely worrying, and something we've noticed since the pandemic is we had a real drive on. Yes, we'd like some mental health workshops being delivered. Yes, we want you to come in and help us really engage employers and find out what they want in terms of wellbeing provision. Now that's starting to pay to off again and business and targets, KPIs, all those sorts of things are becoming more and more important when actually what we should be doing is moving towards a more human powered economy and not losing sight of our biggest asset, which is our people.
From this report is while you can see 91% of UK adults report they've experienced high or extreme levels of pressure or stress in the past year, 91%, which is absolutely startling.
And 1 in 5 working adults admit to their productivity or performance is impacted by high levels of pressure or stress, but they didn't adjust the hours or take time off work, so that's still indicate in even under pressure. There's a lot of presenteeism still, and in new insights. Less than one third of UK workers say they feel fulfilled at work, and almost 1 in 4 say they feel bored at work. And nearly a fifth of workers.
So at 17% say they feel lonely at work and something that we, focus on a lot here at the University of Derby are those feelings of belonging, those feelings of psychological safety. And we'll be exploring that a little bit more in this course. Okay. Just before you go on, I was wondering, you mentioned the term presenteeism issues and worth just given a quick definition. Yeah. That is yeah. So presenteeism is when we I'm sure we've all done it. We can all relate to it. We've sort of like deciles to work even though we don't feel in the right space, whether that be physically well enough to go to work. But we still drag ourselves in or indeed emotionally, mentally, we're not in the right space to be going to work, but we still do it. And this is particularly problematic when you work from home because we think, oh, we'll just put the laptop on, turn the camera off, and we can still be at work. Actually. Are you producing the best quality work there? Are you being kind to yourself by showing up? But actually when you shouldn't be? Yeah.
To downplay that. Thanks for that. Yeah. So what okay okay. So attitudes towards mental health. Let's have a quick look at there. So this is now a quiz. And we're going to show you some statistics. We want you to say whether you think you know this yourself or write them down or whatever. What do you think? It's higher or lower the statistic that we show you.
So first of all, 30% of people said that a lack of line manager skills and confidence was a significant challenge. It positive health and wellbeing in that organisation. So reading that and also have apathy in the burnout report, do you think it's higher or lower? Give you a quick second to think about it. Okay. Well think if. So 43% actually said that a lack of line manager skills and competence was a significant challenge to promoting health, positive health and well-being in the organisation.
So that's almost you know, almost half of people think that, which is quite a lot fab. So 40% of these managers have received training in mental health. What do we think? Do we think managers have more? Managers have had training based on what Kate said or less stuff post-pandemic, as these statistics quite recent gap. So only 30% of managers have received training in mental health, which is quite shocking really, when we consider that it needs to be a priority in the workplace. But actually managers don't have skills in training that it's putting a lot of pressure on managers to be able to look after that stuff and promote, positive health and wellbeing. So but it's cent of UK adults now.
This is terrible. 30% of UK adults wouldn't hire somebody living with depression, even if they were the best candidate for the job. What do you think? Higher or lower?
So actually, 56% wouldn't hire somebody living with depression, even if they were the best candidate for the job, which is again, over half quite a lot over here. They actually shock him. So 40% of the UK population believes that there is still a great deal or fair amount of shame associated with mental health conditions.
What do you think? Higher or lower considering as well, just how many people have admitted to actually the fact that they wouldn't feel comfortable hiring somebody living with depression, for the job? What do you think? So a 51% feel that there is still a great deal of stigma. So, yeah. And then more than 1 in 10. So 12% believe that individuals living with mental health illness should be ashamed of their mental health problems, which just yeah, crazy.
So 20% of people say they're affected most by stigma in the workplace. So out of anywhere that, any setting they might be in, it's actually with the workplace that they find most difficult to be open about their mental health, or a poor mental health or mental health conditions. What do you think? Higher or lower?
So actually 54% say they're affected most by stigma in the workplace, which again, is well over half people feeling like they can't be honest at work. So and then this might be the last one, say 40% of employees have discussed a recent mental fall mental health problem with their line manager. Higher or lower? How many people feel like they can discuss this?
What do we think? So any 11% of workers. And so one in six workers in the UK have has a mental health problem, but actually how many people have discussed it. Do we have statistics for that to know that? Oh sorry, that's a bit of a weird one. Anyway, so 5% of people said that their work had a negative impact on their physical or mental health. Only five what do we think? What she could say, 25% of people said that, their work had a negative impact on their physical or mental health. Oh, I did some thoughts. The last one clearly not. So 50% of people say that their manager has more impact on their mental health and their therapist or their doctor.
So actually, if you think about the time that we spend at work, do we say it's a third of all? Yeah, a third of your life really spend at work, don't you? So what do you think? Is it more or less than 50%? 70% of people think that their manager has more impact on their mental health than their therapist or their doctor, which actually, when you think about and how much time you spend a wig, of course a manager makes a big difference.
So how we might be feeling that everybody agrees with that. But you can see how, that statistic, where that statistic comes from really fast. Thank you. So as we can see from that quick quiz that we've just run through quickly, a stigma in the workplace is still absolutely there. People still feel like they can't be open, in the workplace or can't talk to their line manager about it. And equally, maybe knowing that their manager might not have the adequate training or skills can also be a massive barrier. So now we've got Tim.
We're going to hear from him quickly about his story with his mental health, the only thing that ever gets anything done anywhere is people. And so how those people are, how they feel, their energy, their wellbeing really, really matters. My name's Tim Munden, I'm chief learning officer here at Unilever.
My job is all about human beings, about helping people be the very best they can be. When it comes to stigma, I think people feel that sometimes having, challenges with your mental health is a sign of failure, or that it's something that doesn't happen to people like me. And what we have to do is to try and, help us all to understand that it can happen to anyone. I started to realise that a couple of years ago, the things that I was experiencing myself might be signs of needing to get support.
I'd experienced nightmares for quite a number of years following, an episode early in my life which, which I almost died, but I didn't realise they were connected. And so I'd gone through life experiencing these nightmares and thinking I was just part of who I am. I just live a funny fellow in that way.
I was responding disproportionately to situations, particularly at work. It would trigger a very strong emotional response. I started to realise that I'd been hearing about post-traumatic stress, and maybe that's what I was experiencing. The first stigma put on myself was not really wanting to think that I could have a thing that needed treatment, and the second was being told to step out of work, which for me is, you know, was a huge thing. I had to do the right thing for me because I want other people to do the right thing for them.
And as someone responsible for managing wellbeing in a company, I also had to set an example. The support I got coming back to work was fantastic. I then was able to deal with the triggers in the workplace, and I'm now in a really great place. It was a journey I had to go on. I of acknowledging that I needed to get help getting it, facing my fear of what people would think, I'm coming through that, much stronger, much healthier, much happier.
Okay. So the role of the workplace in mental health and wellbeing is what we're going to start having a little look at now. So why should you care as an employer? Well, as you mentioned, right at the beginning, there was a lot of, care and attention around health and wellbeing, especially when we were going through the pandemic. But what we find is that a lot of employers and sort of it's business as usual until something happens and where we come in is we want to try and, get that preventative approach. So put all the different mechanisms in place, nurture a really sort of positive and psychologically safe culture within which people then can come forward sooner if they feel that they are struggling.
And that could be with a with physical health, mental health or both. Because we do know that there is tremendous link between the two. But there are still quite a few employers that don't see this as a priority. And we if we think back to the first set of slides, when we looked pre-pandemic, it was costing the UK economy around 45 billion.
That's estimated now to be around 64 billion each year. According to Deloitte. And people in work spend a sort of the majority of their lives in their place of employment. Now, that could be working from home plates at work, and colleagues and line managers can provide a tremendous amount of support, whether that be just talking to somebody and adjusting how they work. Yeah, depending on what happened, people are going through and stigma is reduced. If we share those experiences, we show that a little bit of variability, but the vulnerability is still seen sadly as a weakness.
So as an employer, we really want to be nurturing those environments within which people can show up as their true selves and actually raise their head above the parapet and say, you know what? I'm struggling at the moment because I don't think there's anybody in their life that never needs support from somebody. You know, we always need, but all of us need a little bit of support at some point in our lives, and employers can really help in creating that environment where employees feel safe and confident enough to speak out about where they're struggling and knows, and that they're going to get the right support, without fear of discrimination. Which is really, really important. Now, if we look at the costs of not acting and not taking any of these measures, these are just a few on this slide, but you could actually look, the list is endless. So there is lower productivity.
If you're not supporting your staff you're not going to get the productivity from them. You're not going to get them loyalty. You'll get an increased conflicts of work. You will get a higher turnover of staff. You'll have lots of, sickness days or indeed, like we mentioned, beginning presenteeism and then the standard of work might suffer.
There's going to be poor morale in the team. People are not going to feel motivated. They're not going to want to contribute at work. So the costs are tremendously high. And if you think about people being your biggest asset, we take your people away and you're not going to have a business because who's going to do it for you. So it's super, super important that we look after the people that are working for us.
Yes. Now moving on to the importance of psychological safety in the workplace is our favourite topic. It’s exciting. So we'd like you to ask yourself these questions. Have you ever witnessed something at work that just didn't sit right with you?
Did you voice your concern or keep it to yourself? And how easy is it sharing feedback with your colleagues? Just have a think about those questions for a moment.
There, how you answer those questions will be largely dependent on the amount of psychological safety present in your team. So if you, voiced concerns that that would hopefully demonstrate that you do feel psychologically safe within your team to raise concerns or to share feedback with your colleagues, if you don't feel able to do that, it might be the level of psychological safety that is at play here.
So psychological safety. It has been around for years and years and years. And it's Amy Edmondson that actually linked it with sort of performance and productivity at work.
And how teams interact. And it is a shared belief that I can bring my full self to work, that I will not be humiliated or made to feel less good about myself. If I speak up with ideas, with questions, with concerns, and yes, even with mistakes. So psychological safety in a nutshell, is being able to show a picture of yourself without the fear of any sort of repercussions. If you put an idea forward or if you make it, a mistake, or if you, want to contribute some different solutions and ideas to help solve a challenge.
Or indeed, if you're not in a good place that day, you know, you being able to share that with your colleagues and what he really does play into the map of psychological safety that you feel. And psychological safety is super, super important for that feeling of belonging as well.
Which we will go into in a little bit more detail. So why is psychological safety so important, so rooted in the core of workplace culture? Psychological safety plays a pivotal role in shaping employee well-being and fostering an atmosphere of collaboration and innovation. So yes, psychological safety in the workplace is one of the most important drivers of employee motivation, engagement and productivity. Employees who feel psychologically safe are more likely to have good, really relationships with their peers and managers. Tend to go the extra mile to achieve great results. Are better team players, and are unlikely to demonstrate quiet quitting behaviour as well.
When employees feel psychologically say they experience reduced stress levels, increase job satisfaction and a higher sense of belonging within that workplace community. Furthermore, building a culture of psychological safety is a critical component for promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion.
So now I just want you to say this is your first interactive exercise. Actually, I should say so. We're wanting you to take some time. We're going to and go away for about five minutes in a minute. So we would like you to draw a circle on your pen and paper with your pen and paper, draw a circle and have a think about your team. So what behaviour is nurture psychologically psychological safety in your workplace at the moment. Put those in the circle and then any behaviours that you don't want. In the workplace or you've seen demonstrated that, you know, don't nurture that psychological safety. Put outside, the circle as well.
So give you five minutes to do that. Okay. Fab. I hope you enjoyed just taking some time to think about how you can nurture psychological safety. Within your team. So we thought we'd come back and feedback some of our ideas around, what we think nurtures psychological safety and what doesn’t. So I'll start.
I've always find the ‘out’s’ the easiest bits. So, the out behaviours are the things that we don't want to see within the workplace as much as possible. I think a massive one is gossip. And so obviously going behind people's backs and starting rumors and things like that is not going to nurture a psychological safe, safe environment just because, you know, you know, you feel as though there's no trust there. And, things get spread around.
Say something else we talk about quite a lot is, unpredictable behaviour and that inconsistency in management. So, by that we kind of mean and then sometimes often managers can be really stressed and actually they aren't they are maybe they aren't aware of how kind of some days can be, but they are aware of the fact that some days may be more stressful than others.
And actually it's affecting their mood. And actually, for you as an employee and you feel like you're walking on eggshells some of the time and you're not sure what kind of manager you're going to receive that day.
Which can be really difficult, especially if you are struggling or needing some support, and then you feel unable to approach your my line manager, to receive that support. So actually and that inconsistency can be really challenging. Another really, kind of I guess quick when we, as we like to say is, so a lack of visibility with managers.
So actually, not senior manager very often can also be another barrier, to feeling psychologically safe and able to approach.
Then if to even at like say admit you, you've made a mistake, you need some support or actually you're struggling with your mental health. And not seeing your manager very often obviously doesn't nurture a relationship. Together with the team. And then another thing that we say all too often is poor communication within teams.
So, I think sometimes, yeah, we just forget to communicate things. And then actually the room is sort of, people jump to their own conclusions. So things like if there is a redundancy scheme in actually making sure that the message is clear, and or safe often I think, it ends up that we find out about something after the fact rather than being included. And our voices are heard around the changes that are being implemented, how can they approach us and how can and within an organisation, how can we share our opinions that might actually help inform the changes and often times, you know, will become, with questions. So the actually the management haven't even thought about, that could actually make change and transition a lot smoother some of the time. So yeah, I would say, core communication is one of the biggest.
Yeah, that we see and it's the lack of communication. Or even if you've got as a management team, even if you've got nothing to communicate, communicate that especially if you're going through a change. And that's lack of communication. And like you said, Jen sort of put in a main message out to the whole team via email rather than consulting with those that it's going to directly impact first can really sort of undermine, psychological safety.
So communication is absolutely key, I would say. Yeah, absolutely. So in the ends we've now got, emotional intelligence. So sometimes I think be, you know, people being able to read the room, as a manager or as a, you know, somebody seeming a bit different, or is quite quiet and reserved one day, being able to just pick up on those signals and, kind of adapt accordingly and feeling able to share ideas with your team.
So at team meetings, feeling able, everybody as well, no matter of who they are within the organisation, feel like feeling able, and like they won't be shut down if they bring ideas and city meeting around that as well as kind of that equal voice. Obviously we all bring different perspectives.
So actually being mindful of how with each different perspective, we might learn something new, we'll think about something differently. Something else about sharing those ideas selves. And to create an environment where you feel able to share ideas is we always talk about ways of working. So at the start of team meetings, how can we create a good environment in a team meeting?
So, I think sometimes we do it when we're running workshops. Babbo, get everybody to contribute how they will create a psychological safe environment. What are the ground rules for the meeting?
How do we share feedback? Well, and how also how do we challenge as well on the back of that as well, and can be a really good way to stop and say for those ways of working as well. Another end is actually having team meetings have a regular check in with your team and create in that time where, you can have an understanding of everybody's workload, what's going on for everybody as well.
And then I think as well, something that we often is easily forgotten in work is actually taking time away from, the day to day work and actually getting to know each other better. So with away days and socials as a group, inclusive socials as well. And just, yeah, getting to know each other and then that investment into the team as well.
Another thing as well is having different ways to suggest ideas. So actually, say if you are in a team meeting and there's going to be a time where you go to discuss specific ideas, about something new, perhaps let people know ahead of time before they come to the meetings and have time if they want to, to think and prepare what they want to say. And also different ways of collecting those ideas, making it clear that, you know, people can send teams message or an email if they don't feel comfortable speaking up and, in front of everybody, if that's just not their preference as well.
And then really importantly lastly is that ability to listen. So being able to listen to, everybody and actually use an active listening skills and I know we're all guilty of it, of kind of sometimes will be set up in a way on our computers. And we're trying to receive actually, sometimes it's better just to and close your laptop and get some of the full attention, and they'll definitely notice the difference if you do. Yeah. Being more present, in the workplace. And this is a really good exercise that you can do with your teams as well.
So you could ask them to sit down as, like Jen says, looking at these ways of working, what behaviours do we want to nurture within a team that really helped create that psychologically safe environment? And which behaviours do we wipe out? And this can be a really nice exercise to do with everybody. So it's like a team agreement, around ways of working.
And Jen, I do quite an interactive, workshop around psychological safety as well, so we can delve deeper and give you lots more practical tools as well into how you would net psychological safety within your team.
Okay. So in the four stages of psychological safety now as we culture within an organisation, it's really you can't change a culture overnight. It takes time. It's like a dripping tap. And likewise psychological safety cannot just be created. So the four stages of psychological safety were developed by Doctor Timothy Clarke. He's got a really, really good couple of books, actually, around the four stages of psychological safety.
And this really defines the path to innovation and inclusion. And you'll notice here that it's it isn't all built at once. So employees have to sort of progress through the following four stages before they feel that really comfortable to make a valuable contribution. Now these aren't linear stages.
Yeah. You can go back. So what's you know, when we go through these four stages, what's really important to understand is actually you could really get stage four where everyone's feeling really, really able and safe to challenge and to give constructive feedback, to put ideas forward. But then sort of one wrong move can undermine all of that hard work and take you back to sort of inclusion, safety or learner safety.
So, you know, all those behaviours where we put an out circle of outside the circle. So things like gossiping could completely undermine this. So just keep that in mind as we go through. So stage one is there inclusion safety. Can I be my authentic self at work now.
Inclusion safety satisfies our basic human need to connect and belong. So if we think that Maslow's hierarchy of needs or indeed NCO needs and dysfunctions of a team or we like to say the effective components there, the, the components of an effective team, inclusive. It's all about that feeling of belonging. It's an intrinsic human motivation.
And when you get inclusion safety, this is where you feel safe to be yourself and you accept it for who you are. And that includes your own unique attributes and characteristics. So if you've come from a workplace, a different workplace, and it's about getting those skills, your team learn about what your specific skills and characteristics that add to the, the sort of the rich nations of the team. So that's inclusion safety.
Then we move on to learn a safety, and that satisfies our human need to learn and grow. And in this stage you would feel safe to exchange in the learning process by asking questions, giving and receiving feedback, experimenting with things, and yet making mistakes.
So it's okay to make mistakes. We're all human, and that's where we're in that learner safety zone. We then move on to stage three, which is our contributor safety. And this is where we ask ourselves, can I really create value here in my place of work? And that satisfies our need to make a difference. You know it when you ask a lot of people why they do the job they do, it's to make a difference or to make a change or to make this more effective. It's a real human need. And during this phase, you would feel safe to use your skills, your abilities, your knowledge to make those meaningful contributions to the team. And that would then offset got a belonging.
You've learned and then you're actually creating value. You're going to feel so much more motivated, loyal, feel like you've got a voice, all those sorts of things which actually all components of an effective team and will give you results.
And then finally, stage four is the challenge of safety. So challenges safety satisfies the need to make things better. And this is why you would feel safe to speak up and challenge. And that means challenge anybody.
So quite often what we see is in organisations with a hierarchy, there is a fear of challenging, perhaps a suggestion or an idea from the top, or there is a fear of questioning that when actually that's really, really healthy.
And that helps nurture that feeling with psychological safety. So what we want to do is actually agree ways of working again, but a great and effective and constructive way of how do you challenge each other?
How do you challenge so that it's not seen as a personal attack? And once you get to that stage that you work in as effectively as you possibly can do as part of a team. But like I mentioned in the beginning, and I'm thinking of a situation where perhaps a company might be going through a significant change, everyone feels that they can be open about it.
They can make mistakes, they can, give feedback within a team. But the senior leadership team decide to release some comms to the whole team before actually speaking to the team.
It directly impacts. That would undermine the feeling of psychological safety. If we think what is it impact? Could it be on that team? They're going to feel like they don't really matter.
They're going to feel like they're just one in a whole while. The number of employees, there's no respect. They're not valued. They're not you know, their ideas don't matter. And that can completely undermine all of the great work you've been doing to nurture that psychological safety. So it's really important to just have that understanding that even though you might feel like you're psychologically safe, if you then those behaviours are have side of the circle creep, and it can absolutely undermine and that level of psychological safety within a workplace.
Okay. And that's just dislike basically me saying everything I've just told you. So it's just a nice reference point for it's a nice one to go through with your team as well. And to check in and as I say, generally deliver a workshop, around the different stages of psychological safety and there's different interactive exercises you can do at each stage, which will help measure and at least get a baseline for where your team is starting out.
So. Okeydokey. So we've just put in some top tips here and another fabulous infographic by the UN. So these are some top tips for creating a psychologically safe environment. So create that open and trusting environment so that can include things like once one's with your manager, open forums, sharing ideas, all those good things. Language matters.
So make sure everyone feels valued. This can be done by everyone, including leaders. It can, you know, openly saying sorry, sharing some vulnerability, thanking people, asking for help, initiating conversations, all those sorts of things can help to create that psychologically safe environment.
Taking your actions to your organisation. So here, you know, you really do need to consider the specific needs of your organisation, understand what does your culture look like, and are there any sort of specific barriers for your staff?
This also applies on an interpersonal level as well. So have a little look at okay. How often are you staff meeting with their line managers. Are there any barriers that growth mindset. This is something we explore a lot in our management training.
And it's far better to have a growth mindset than a fixed mindset. So when we make mistakes, rather than hauling somebody over the coals and pointing the finger of blame, say is a learning opportunity because people don't make mistakes on purpose 99% of the time. There's always a reason for a mistake, whether that be lack of training, being left unsupervised, not feeling confident enough, all those sorts of things. There's always something behind a mistake.
So see it as a learning opportunity and leaders really should role model this by being open about their mistakes, showing that bit of vulnerability and then role modelling how they get over that, how they see is an opportunity and how it's used to review a process or a procedure.
And we are big advocates for demonstrating compassionate and inclusive leadership. This is so, so important. And I would say one of the key components for creating a psychologically safe environment. So listen to your colleagues, listen to your staff, show that you understand and you act on that feedback.
There is nothing worse than being sent a survey as an employee send completing it, and then nothing happens with the results. Or you don't hear a dicky bird about, okay, well, what's going to happen as a result of me filling that survey? And if you're, you know, if you open and demonstrate growth mindset yourself, then you can expect a similar pattern of behaviour from your team as well. I guess another big one is tackling bullying and workplace harassment through education. We see a lot of organisations where things could have been nipped in the board a lot sooner, rather than an escalation and getting to the point where people are in disciplinary, it's about setting clear expectations for that respectful behaviour in the workplace.
Now, many might sit in and think, well, surely that's common sense and we're all adults. You would be surprised. I'm sure we've all got workplaces where we've been previously, where the behaviour has been not so great.
You're in quite a toxic environment. You know, if that's not nipped in the bud early, that can then sort of worry leads.
And that's the thing. Yeah. Completely undermines psychological and safety within your team. Accountability is another one. So whether you are witness to an executive microaggressions or whether you see somebody acting out to somebody else and you think, well, that's not quite right.
Having accountability, speaking out about that is really vital to speak of and challenge, because if we don't, we're actually enabling that behaviour to continue. So that's where allyship can come in. So, strong employee network groups that really provide a safe space for people to talk about different challenges. Obviously, policies are important.
So there needs to be workplace support in place to report bullying, harassment, all of those things. But actually what I would say is that having policies that are just on the shelf collecting dust, you may as well not have them.
They need to be lived and breathed within an organisation. So it's really important to have a policy that's embedded within the culture. And finally, you know, use the ABC model. Ask, ask your staff. What does it feel like? What does it sound like? Benchmark. Where are you now? And consider the element of difference and power in an organisation. So we can absolutely support with that process. And as I say, we come in and deliver lots and lots of workshops, and we'll talk more about how we might support you with that process a little bit later on.
Okeydoke. So one of the biggest is starting a conversation to reduce stigma. So as we saw by the quiz at the beginning that Jen took us through, there is still a tremendous amount of stigma around mental health in the workplace in particular. So imagine if somebody is struggling, how are you going to encourage them to open up?
I'm in a psychologically safe work environment is absolutely imperative, but also how they are received when they do raise concerns, that also has a massive impact, and it can either support somebody or it can completely undermine and become a huge baby for that person.
There's a lot of a misconception that you need a special set of skills to be able to have a conversation around mental health. When you absolutely do not. You don't have to be a trained counsellor. You don't need to have all the access.
You don't need to know. All right. If for mental health conditions, absolutely not. All you need to do is listen and then know where to signpost to. It's actually really, really disempowering if you do impose solutions on people because we're all experts in our own lives. So even if we're in quite an emotional state and we might not feel like experts in our lives, we are.
And yeah, just to find the solution. Yeah, absolutely. So a bit of guidance listening, sort of asking questions like what? What have you tried or what’s your support network like, just inquiring, listening and then having in your back pocket places where you can signpost to it's really, really important. And so and as we've seen, employees are really scared to tell their manager about, a mental health problem.
And we all know that if we nip things in the bud earlier, they will hopefully escalate.
And it actually by having conversations early doors, it may prevent somebody from going off sick from your workplace. By supporting somebody in effective way. What does that do to psychological safety? It absolutely improves it. It absolutely supports the psychologically safe culture and environment within which you are trying to nurture. So one scenario could be that somebody comes to you as a manager. They've plucked up the courage to come and speak to you about, an issue, something that's challenging them at the moment. And you sit down and say, well, you've got five minutes.
So you’re gonna have to be quick because I’ve got another meeting to go to. I mean, since going to what is how that how you've responded, what is that going to do to that person's self-esteem. What's it going to do? To encourage them to be again, it's just going to be a massive, massive barrier. And they're going to think, oh gosh, why bother? And straightway we about see themselves.
On the flip side, if you're a manager that says, okay, I've got, you know, by all means, if you've got all things to do, I've got a meeting now, but let's put some time in the diary. I like how I've passed away, and I can go for a coffee and have really good conversation that is far more supportive than being dismissive, or by saying things like, oh, we're all stressed at the moment, so we just need to get our heads down and crack on. Not helpful, because everybody deals with stress and pressure very, very differently.
And we explore this and unpack it a lot more in one of our in workshops, particularly around the manager's role in starting conversations. So as a manager, as an organisation, we need to be sending a really close signal to staff that their mental health matters and that they are going to be supported and listened to if they raise anything.
And really, mental health should be treated in exactly the same way as physical health, because we wouldn't think twice about putting with adjustments in place, somebody who's broken the leg and the so somebody who might be struggling with anxiety, why would we not have a similar conversation? There's still lots of myths around conversations, so we feel like we are going to make things worse. We feel we're going to say the wrong things or ideas and people's head is another big one. Is yet ideas in their head. So we want to show you now this short video by a Samaritans.
And if you go on to Samaritans while being in the workplace, there is like a mini online training, which is really, really cool. Why it's so, so important to have those conversations.
After I had the conversation with my manager, Adrian, it was a mixture of emotions. There was a significant amount of relief that that someone else knew what's happening to me.
There was a fair amount of fear because I think it meant that I was having to face something that I'd been ignoring to the best of my abilities was happening. But overwhelmingly, I think it was relief that that perhaps there was an end to this or that there was a way out. That there was a way to make it stop.
And work through lunches. Get home later. I work at pretty much every evening. You don't always say what the cost is, what the personal cost is. There was this constant sensation of just trying to get by. I was overwhelmed by everything that was going on.
I just really was wanting to keep everything under control and fix everything myself. And the reality is that I couldn't. I think if I look back on good things that I've done, that for me was the best because I was in an absolute state. I was suicidal, and I was really not coping. And I think it would have been very easy to just give up at that point.
I think what the agent did was make me realise that there was help. I don't know how, if he realises how important it was to me and what a difference it made. I think that's so, so important because sadly, Jen and I, we hear and see a lot of workplaces that, you know, even though it's, you know, it's entirely the other person's decision around, you know, what action they take. Workplaces. say oh, what? We could have intervened. We knew we were struggling. Always is. We don't want to be having those conversations with ourselves.
You know, we want to be there saying, you know, we did everything that we could. I mean, ultimately, it's that that individual's choice. It's that, you know, to take whatever action they feel. But actually, as an employer, we have a responsibility. We have a duty of care that once were aware, we've got suspicion of somebody who's not coping or is struggling with something. Then we've got a duty of care to sort of support we would do if we were made aware that somebody had got, a broken light or know we have a duty of care to make reasonable adjustments.
Why can't the same be this be said for mental health concerns? We all struggle at some stage, and so actually having a conversation doesn't mean sitting there with a whole list of questions and diagnosing anybody or being an expert in depression, bipolar or anything like that. Simply asking somebody, how are you?
And if you're not convinced that they are okay, even when they say, I'm fine, sort of say, well, you know, think you are, you seem to be struggling. I don't want to support you. Yeah. And some people may climb up, they might not want to talk, but actually having that initial conversation and, you know, even going for a walk with somebody and walking side by side with them is less confrontational than sort of sitting across a desk and saying, you know, what's the matter that I've seen myself, and we would always encourage people to just listen when people offload rather than to fire loads and loads of questions.
Just listen, let them get it off their chest. Many say that they, witnessed something like going like this with their shoulders, and you can see the relief once they have got it off their chest. But, you know, so have that initial conversation with them.
Just let them vent. But then wellness action plans are really very good toe to toe with. Yes. And apologies, I've just noticed these slides. Quite right. We've put identifying triggers and support strategies three times.
But really important. Yeah, yeah. It really. Right. Well it is that is kind of why this action principle. So there are fabulous resource great by mind. And as you can see from the little pictures we put on, there's three different kinds to suit kind of what style of work it might be.
So I for working remotely hybrid and then in the workplace as well. So and the whole idea of a wellness action plan actually is so say after you've had that initial conversation with someone, it could be, you could bring up, you know, have you seen a wellness action plan before? And it's a tool that they can then use actually to take away and have a look at it. And it's got questions like, when do I work best? What are my preferred communication styles?
How do I, like to receive feedback? It's kind of all, different questions around, how what is that optimal kind of performance at work, and how can we help you perform the best. And then actually as well, on the flip side of that, what could be those signs that they're struggling, in the workplace? And, who is that support network?
So it's kind of like, to help you understand, as a colleague, what you can do to help them work well, and then how to support them if they are struggling. So the way that we tend to suggest using these, I've just touched on is around kind of having that initial conversation with somebody and then say, well, actually, and would you be interested in kind of completing a wellness action plan? And then you can, you could say to the person, you know, why don't you go away with that wellness action plan? We can print one off together and you can take a look at those questions.
And then when you feel ready and like you've had some time to look at it, then we can come back together and actually complete together if that's the easiest thing for you.
If you've got some initial ideas absolutely write those down, and then we can look at those together and then you have a copy of that wellness action plan, and the manager should have that copy too. And normally it is the manager that does this actually say as their manager say. And you can you say is, alright, if I have a copy of your one subscription you can have a copy. We both got a copy. It's that and then you can kind of bring that in and be mindful of, say how they want feedback and the kind of their preferred ways of working. And then actually, when they've written that say, well, why don't we see how this goes for, say, two weeks or a month and we can come back together and then set a date in the diary, wash it together and say, well, come and review it this morning to see how you're getting on. And if there are things that are working at that next meeting, or if the things that aren't, and actually adopting that and saying, what can we try and stuff that might work better, and then you can go away and with those new changes and then have that meeting later on. Let's say we've made those changes and see if they work.
Just a few bits really important. So now, because I think what we do is these remind me a little bit of back to work interviews. So we sit we think, oh, you know, it's a form filling exercise. We'll just do it and then it's forgotten about.
So I think what I like about Wellness action plans is that it's a live document. And like you said, Jen, that the individual complete set and then gets work together with the manager to talk about the support. One thing I would say as well is if, you've got your department and this is entirely up to you, if the individual is happy for a copy to be kept on file, because if ever you is, the manager would never.It's still what that support to be continued need want the sort of new manager if you like to be aware of what support.
And while this action plan was in place but a site's not it's not mandatory. It's just another thing that just came to my head. But, I think I like the fact that it's a live document and it's a good way of monitoring that person's, mood and knowing when to perhaps intervene a little bit more or get additional support in for them. Refer them on to an occupational health or counsellor or anything like that. But it's done together. Yeah. So I really like. Okay, so with that in mind and conversations and yeah, yeah, trying to get, information out of people to be able to support them effectively.
We've got two case studies that we would like you to have a look at. So the first one is Emma Drury. Yes. Please save my voice. Yeah. So Emma has been working in an office based company for two years as an administrative assistant. She's 21 years old and still lives at home with her parents.
She is a consciousness worker, always arriving at work on time, very much team her and her work is to a high standard. The company have recently won a big contract, which has increased the workload and allows considerably for several staff, including Emma. She is saving for a deposit on a house with her boyfriend and therefore welcome the extra hours. However, the demands at work have been going on for approximately two months now and over the last week, Emma's line manager has noticed that she doesn't appear to be herself.
Emma seems tied in the logic, not her usual bubbly self, and is working for her lunch breaks. So as her lunch manager, you've picked up on these changes. So what are your main observations of Emma? What are your main concerns? How do you approach an initial conversation with Emma, keeping in mind that wellness action plan? Maybe. And what support could you offer her as well? So I'll give you five minutes.
Have a think about those questions. Okay, so hopefully you've had enough time to think about that first case today.
So we've just captured a few things that we would do. Yes. So main observations. So obviously the changing and working patterns skipping lunch and then the change in Emma was Emma. Yeah. Yeah I'm a change in mood and energy as well.
Yeah. Quite significant to us. And then the main concerns were obviously it's, it's not a sustainable way of working and it's, you know, with that change in mood and energy, she's, she doesn't seem like herself in how she would normally be in present work as well. So having that initial conversation with her as a manager, you know, you could schedule a check in and discuss how she is managing the extrovert. And, you know, if she doesn't come forward and say she's not, she's struggling and not doing very well, then actually, you're able to share kind of your observations, talking about those main observations that we'd noticed around those changes in herself, and the working pattern and the mood, and ask, you know, is there any way I can help? Is there any way I might be able to take some work from you? What is it? That you're struggling with the work. Is there any specific tasks that are more challenging than other, than others? And could we delegate those out to other people's kind of shout out workload? Well, evenly. And really reiterating that she's a valued member of the team and, you want to help where possible as well. And then like we mentioned earlier with the wellness action plans, actually, it's really important to not just have one meeting and that's it. But maybe whilst you're together with them, I say let's get to the later meeting to check in how you do it in two weeks, once, if we delegate some work, see how that's going and seeing if actually and re delegating that to other people has improved has some groups how you feel it as well. I think another good one as well.
One that's just come to mind is to sort of, I think as a manager to reiterate the importance of taking breaks, having lunch. And I think that then throws up the fact that as managers, we need to be filling that as well and taking our lunch.
Which can sometimes be easier said than done. But I think with, with Emma, you know, she's so conscientious. She's. Yes, she's trying to earn more money all the rest of it and get the work done. But we emphasize and to not to the detriment of her health and wellbeing.
And that's really important. And it's about sort of reiterating the fact that she's not she's not failing. It's not that she can't cope or anything like that, but actually, let's have a look at how we're managing this workload. And if you're having to skip lunch and it's having an impact on your mood and your energy, then something's not right because that that's not sustainable.
So I think it's about having that really open conversation and then like Jen said, if actually not a week or two weeks time, you know, and then if you feel I think at that stage, well, the might because it might be not what you thought and Emma might come to that conversation and say, well, actually it's this, this and this that's having an impact. There might be something going on outside of work. So I think until you have that station, you can't make those assumptions and you don't know the full picture. But the most important thing is to check it and listen, you know, and listen.
And definitely. Okay, so we've got another case study for you about Brian. So I'll read it again and then we'll give you around five minutes to help you think about this. And then we'll give you kind of our main takeaways and what we think thank
Brian is a 50 year old senior manager in a corporate firm. He's been married for 25 years and has three children, one of whom, his oldest eldest daughter, has recently left home to go to university. Two children still live at home and are involved in several afterschool activities, and his wife works part time in school, so she provides a taxi service to from activities. Brian is a conscientious worker who has been with the company for 30 years. He is looked up to by a number of younger managers, and is ultimately responsible for contract management in the company. Last week, Brian worked until late every night at 9 p.m. nd was first in the office at 7 a.m. each morning. He doesn't appear to be taking any breaks and has become short tempered with colleagues. One colleague asked. One colleague asked Brian if there was anything bothering him, to which he replied I just can't do this anymore. It's too much. His colleague spoke to their line manager and passed on his concerns, so asked Brian's line manager, what are your main observations again of Brian? What are your main concerns?
How would you approach an initial conversation with Brian, and what support could you offer him as well? So again, five minutes. Have a think, maybe jot some down some ideas. And I'm feedback.
Okeydokey. Say that we've captured some thoughts as well. Yeah. So our main observations are basically, I think kind of the main concern was the kind of, more the Brian being more agitated and actually the way he spoke to a colleague, seeming quite distressed.
So, and so, yeah, more agitated, facing external pressures that, hey, man, you know, change of family dynamics going on or so the working, you know, like ten hours a day. So change in working hours and patterns and also not taking breaks throughout the day. I mean, yeah, just not good. These change in mood in energy. And that response he gave to a colleague as well. So the main concern is the change of behaviour and response he gave to the colleague at. So as the manager, our initial conversation would be, you know, starting a casual and relaxed conversation in the right environment.
Maybe leaving the office and going to a coffee shop or something like that. Where you won't be overheard, perhaps by later colleagues. I'm actually it's just casual and as a check in. So, and then asking Brian how it's feeling, and if he doesn't open up, say again, some people have noticed, behaviour at work and seen a shift in Han, and that's what that that bit was.
Don't say that. But they wouldn't say so-and-so's come. Oh sorry, I don't worry. And so you wouldn't go and say, oh, sometimes just come and say as if the seem a bit grumpy. It's I think that's when you make, that you've made observations rather than going in and making somebody else because otherwise Brian could think, oh, somebody's been talking about me behind my back, which may up to the sort of agitation, and, and just sort of come back and say, you know, if you, if you're struggling because you don't seem yourself.
Yeah. Then yeah, it's a, it's a busy time at work with lots and lots of pressures. And we can absolutely support, we can do the work. And I think that is a good way. You said about, starting that casual conversation, perhaps don't even go in with that straight away. Go ask how his daughter is getting on at university then, and start some chit chat there because that's a pressure. Yeah, I know what my mum and dad were like when I went to uni.
Mum was crying in a corner and then my dad was just more worried about being able to pay my bills and, and God knows what else. So I think starting with that and checking in. Yeah. Rather than going straight in with the oh other but so sad.
Yeah. Exactly. You don't want to be doing, you know. So as I said that this would be, you know, this is an issue or you've snapped to this, however, saying that I think rightly so, Jan, you've said the main concern is the response that he gave to that colleague.
So if you. Yeah, when you speak to, Brian and he's perhaps quite low, he may be saying, you know what? I'm. Yeah, yeah, I'm, I'm really struggling and. Oh no, I don't feel myself knowing how he's responded to that colleague.
It might be worth saying, okay, so what thoughts are you having then? What do you mean by the fact you can't you don't feel you can cope and dig a little bit deeper with that because it's not you're not going to be, as Jen says, you know, you're not going to be putting ideas in somebody's head.
You're not going to be. But it's about asking those direct questions, because when somebody turns around and says, I just can't do this anymore, what does that mean for them? Yeah. And not to be frightened around digging for that, but making sure as well, if you are concerned for Brian that you've got you know, that you can.
Yeah. Get a mental health first aider and get their advice of where to signpost to. There's the crisis team, there's mental health helplines. There's loads and loads different. You know, you can support Brian in making a phone call to his GP.
There's loads and loads of things that you can do, but like these are just two very short case studies. We go into a lot more detail of, what you could do is of him, your responsibilities as a manager in a lot of our workshops.
But yeah, I think the response given to the colleague at that point you may need to subset is somebody mentioned that you said you couldn't cope this anymore. I want to understand more about that.
We want to be able to support you, and not to be frightened to say that, you know, and to be sure, Brian, in that way. So that's always a good one. Yeah. It's quite complex. And, and these case studies are quite still. They are general. They're there until you have that conversation, you know more might come out. But it's just to sort of get you started thinking, okay. So yeah. So we talked about the Wellness Action Plan, another fabulous resource that, we all have access to, is Everyone Matters. So you might not have heard of this before, but it's based it's the first national mental health campaign from Public Health England. Housing kind of expert advice and practical tips to achieve good mental health. So it's an online. So, as you can see here, there's a link.
So, that will take you straight to it. And it's basically like an online quiz where it asks you a few questions. And what I say is how you feeling at the moment. It will ask you questions like that, to help you deal with stress, boost your mood, and previously you can feel more in control and from how you answer, basically it will give you like kind of, trying to think like kind of like an action plan of ways you could look at improving, again, your sleeping based on your mood and stress as well. But it's a really good tool to having your toolkit as well. Yeah. Suggest to other people that, maybe struggle with mental health and don't know where to start. That could be a starting point for them. I always think it's good practice to because we always try to get people to be well or Yeah, in the first place. Do not gets upstaged when they feel they're struggling. So I always suggest perhaps everybody completing this.
It takes that couple of minutes. Five very quick questions. Do this once a month, and it's just a way of checking in with yourself and how you feel in so that you can nip it in the body. We start to see things better off a little bit. It's really good and there's tons of resources on that website.
So it's a really, really good one. All mental health data. So this, so obviously in a lot of organisations, there are mental health first data set. I don't know if you have mental health first aid is in your organisation.
But yeah, they're basically the equivalent of a physical first aid. So, so the course is equipped to give people skills, knowledge and competence to recognize signs and symptoms of common mental health issues and effectively signpost the person to further support. And so the mental Health first Aid course has been developed with input from clinical experts and those with lived experience, and are delivered by a community of instructor members. Of course, these are suitable for staff from all workplaces. So there's, as you can see from our little list that there's a variety of different courses.
And there are really great resource to have in your organisation. Yeah. I mean, I've done the course myself, and it was really great to have a good a over understanding of, kind of the different symptoms and signs somebody might be struggling with their mental health and actually, it means then at the, say some of the approaches you that struggling at work and you are able to signpost and gain extra support from a mental health first day if you have them in your organisation. I think, yeah, they're just a great resource to have as well.
I think it's the two date. It's the two day course that gets you a credit, that's starts as a mental health as data. And then you could do you have to do a refresher every three years. And just to make it fit mental health first aiders are there to listen and and buying posts and not there is counsellors.
And likewise it's not here. If you've got mental health first aid as it's not just about a tick box exercise. Yeah, we've got mental first days. That's it. Why were they being used. You know have they got are they getting ongoing support.
And that's something Jen and I offer through the Supporting Supporters network. So if you have got mental health status, you know, get them signed up to our Support the Supporters network because it provides ongoing support, training, advice, signposting, diagnosis because otherwise mental health aside, is off to the to the training and then let out into the workplace. And then they don't have to do a fashion for like an three.
Yeah. So yeah, yeah, yeah, we've noticed that's a bit of a gap and that ongoing support is really needed. So mental health facilities are amazing to have a new organisation. But please do not see it as a tick box.
Emphasise it. Yeah. Utilising them really well. Absolutely.
Kirk. We love Kirk. He come. So we're just going to show you this very short video.
Just before we go into a little bit more detail about the work Health hub, I always like to leave the last word to Kirk because ultimately it is about coming to work and leaving work as happy and as healthy as you possibly can do. So have a listen. We thank yourself warmly.
And then you go home. You feel physically sick because you didn't know what you were going to walk into. My name is Kirk Robinson, an associate director. My role is making sure everybody goes home the same way they come in in the morning.
I've got one daughter, Holly. Love her to bits. She's my best mate. Dads and daughters. They always say are very close. At 13 years old. She's 13 stone. She developed an eating disorder through being bullied at school.
When I looked at her again, she's five and a quarter down and I allowed that to happen to my best friend. All the while this is going on, I'm still coming into work. It was very, very difficult. I was here physically. Mentally. I was all over the place. Do not want to get up in the morning. You don't want to talk to anybody. You know, you got to go out.
You know, you got to earn some money. Construction's always been seen as a very macho culture. Get on and deal with it. Man up. ‘Grow a pair’ if you like. It doesn't matter what industry is there is always a stigma attached with mental health.
My line manager thankfully did cite me on several occasions. He said if you don't want to come in, he said, just send us a text and say, I am not coming in. If I hadn't had that support network, I swear as god is my witness, I would have done something ridiculous and ended up as a statistic. I've started carrying out a lot of, mental health awareness toolbox talks. It gives me the opportunity to get the guys to talk to one another and to talk to me, and then recognise that if they have got a problem, they're not on their own. The Mental Health at Work website pulls all these resources together so that if you just go on a website, filter it by your industry, and then that will give you all your own managed resources to to point you in the right direction and to help them to support somebody that is struggling.
In the words of the sainted Bob Hoskins, is good to talk. Okay, so we really like, oopsy daisy. Like Kirk's last word there. So the most important thing is to talk.
You know, where do you start? If your workplace, you know, if you've already got things in place, you know, how do you know that they're being used? How do you know that they're effective? Are you regularly engaging with your staff, to find out how they're feeling in terms of the wellbeing provision that you offer. So we can help you with all of those?
Questions. And indeed, if you do want to take your learning around mental health and wellbeing in the workplace of our psychological safety to the next level, then by completing this module today, you will get free access to the Work Health Hub, which is and membership that membership platform that's got loads of resources on it. So we'll tell you a little bit more about that.
So you will automatically get signed up for that. And the work health Hope was launched back in April 2023. And our mission is to empower every single individual within the workplace to create a culture that provides positive mental health and wellbeing. So our values are really, really important to us.
And you'll see those at the bottom of the page. It's all about being collaborative, listening, offering support, being responsive, being inclusive and indeed being accessible. Usually membership to the platform is 100% for SMEs and charities or indeed 200 pounds for larger organisations. But as you are in High Peak, you will get a year's free membership as well to the hub, so the work helpful comprises of three different elements. There is a membership platform which I've just mentioned, and we will have the quick look at in a moment. We have a research arm because being a university, you would expect us to.
And really with that, we are that conduit between academia and business. So we have a lot of amazing academics at the university that produce fantastic research and businesses. Organisations need to hear about it, so we translate and make it accessible and then, come in and deliver workshops and support. You embed that within your workplace. And then we also offer 1 to 1 consultancy because we do not do a one size fits all. We don't churn out the same workshops again and again. It's very much, bespoke to your organisation.
So this is the platform. It's got 12 elements now and you will get, a login for this. We have things so we have our consultancy offer on there. We've also got a range of campaigns, toolkits, learning resources. We've got our support in supporters for mental health visitors on there as well. A whole section dedicated to them. We've got events. So as as a member of the Hope you get four member network events a year, lots of online and face to face, training opportunities and workshop opportunities.
We also have the latest news in terms of health and wellbeing at work. We've got a fantastic range of experts in the field who we refer to as our practitioners, all housed on the hope to help you along your wellbeing journey. We then have, on that platform, a courses section, and if you, have enjoyed this session and want to perhaps go into a lot more detail about it because this is only an overview, each day we have the leading wellbeing in the workplace course that you can complete for free, because it's within the membership.
And looks at, workplace culture. It looks at how to nurture resilient teams.
It looks at the impact of stigma on mental health, how to start conversations. So we go into a lot more detail around how to have those important conversations develop in an effective health and wellbeing strategy. Well, this action plans that Jen covered.
We go into a lot more detail in the course. We also, explore how to keep people at work and stay well, but also how to manage staff that might be struggling their workplace or indeed, if they do have to take time off as well, and how to transition them back to the workplace effectively. And most importantly, I guess in all of this is how to look after your own wellbeing. Because you can't pull from an empty cup, so you will get a certificate at the end of that course. It's gone through a short course board here at the University of Derby, but as I say, that is an option as well for you and you can complete that in your own time. There's no sort of start date, end date, anything like that.
We then have our consultancy offer. And this is where we work with you on a 1 to 1 basis. So if you want some support, in your wellbeing journey or you think, actually we've done a lot, we'd like to perhaps evaluate how well that's going now and have a look at if there's any gaps we can support you in doing that.
So we will take a deep dive with you. We will, engage with your staff, but through focus groups, through surveys, we will help you embed a really good health. A wellbeing strategy will help you with your communications and how to keep that as a really good source of, psychological safety within your team. We will then come in and deliver lots of workshops for you around psychological safety, managers health wellbeing has have conversations, coach dignity, inclusion, all those sorts of things and collaborate with you to develop a really bespoke action plan for you in your organisation.
So if you are interested in the consultancy that that does come, it's a charge. But as I say, if you're interested, you can get in touch or we can certainly have a conversation with you about what that would look like. So what we will do is in the chat, we will put our contact details, that if it's not the yet and I'll pop another slide in as well.
Absolutely. Because we can add from the slide when we upload them. And if you, want to get in touch with us, I will say it as well. Just to cover all. My email address is K dot wood then the number three at Derby dot A C dot UK. Gen’s is G dot Blakely spelt bl a k e l e y at Derby dot A C dot UK. Get in touch with us. We can have a conversation about you and your organisation where you're at on your wellbeing journey.
We'd love to support you. And as I say, if you've really liked, what you've heard today or indeed, if you just want a separate conversation with us, around the specific challenges you might be facing, then do reach out.
What have I missed? So as you’re high peak, as I said before, you do get free membership to the hub app and you'll get the opportunity to be able to complete that leading wellbeing in the workplace course. As you can see from the platform, if you want to have a tour of the hub, arrange a call. Obviously there is no obligation to to join it or if you want to, just know how to navigate it, get in touch. But we really look forward to having you on board and support a new in the future. So take care. Thank you.
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