👥 Serves: 11-25 people, 2-10 people, 26-40 people, 41+ people

🎚 Difficulty: Hard

⏳ Total time: Ongoing

🥣 Ingredients: Positivity

🤓 Wholebeing Domains: Accomplishments, Community, Meaning, Positive Emotion, Radical Care

💪 Wholebeing Skills: Caring, Commitment, Determination, Emotional intelligence, Fulfilment, Giving, Kindness, Legacy, Listening, Optimism, Service

👣 Steps

Step 1 – Make a commitment

• There is a clear commitment from the senior level of the organisation that mental health matters and that it will work to promote good mental health, support those that need it, and challenge the stigma.
• This commitment is stated in a form that is visible and understandable to all employees. This may include signing the Time to Change Employers Pledge.
• The organisation appoints a senior level employee to be the Mental Health Champion to drive forward this commitment. This Champion is supported by a working group that helps to support the Champion and develops and implements the commitment.

Step 2 – Build your approach

• The senior team understands and acts on all its legal requirements around workplace mental health and risk management – the rights of employees are communicated to all employees.
• The organisation assesses the mental health needs of its employees, understands where improvements are needed, and identifies clear objectives for development, along with the business case for doing so.
• Mental health is reflected in all relevant workplace policies and a plan for delivering mental health is in place, with clear actions that can be achieved and reported back on every six months or every year.

Step 3 – Foster a positive culture

• There are effective management standards in place that ensure employees feel supported and valued.
• The organisation ensures that the workplace environment is conducive to promoting healthy behaviours and limits the potential for it to cause ill-health.
• There is a system in place, such as risk assessments, to prevent stress.
• Job design and roles are reviewed so as to ensure they are appropriate and conducive to productive work.
• Social activities, volunteering, and out-of-work activities are actively encouraged and supported by the organisation.
• The organisation provides appropriate avenues and frequency of communication to keep all staff at all levels informed of the approach to wellbeing.

Step 4 – Offer support and training

• The structure of the organisation ensures that information is freely shared and every employee knows how to access support and whom to approach for further support.
• The organisation recognises the key role in effective line management in driving good mental health and wellbeing.
• All line managers receive training in mental health and all employees are educated to increase their mental health literacy and to recognise the signs that they may need support.
• The organisation builds mental health awareness into all induction programmes.
• Performance reviews allow employees to comment on issues that affect their performances and enable training needs to be identified.

Step 5 – Manage mental health

• The organisation takes a pro-active approach to ending mental health stigma in the workplace.
• Mental health is discussed openly in team and company meetings as well as 1-2-1 and in performance reviews.
• All employees are supported to reduce the potential to experience stress and organisational changes are made when risks are identified that may lead to stress or other mental ill-health. Adopt the HSE’s management standards for work-related stress.
• Every employee knows how to access information on the company’s approach and further information about mental health and wellbeing.

Step 6 – Provide the right support

• Managers are trained and are confident in how to handle sensitive conversations around mental health. Check out our recipe “Talking mental health in the workplace” for skills to develop to talk about mental health concerns in your team.
• The organisation is prepared to make adjustments to work patterns and structures for anyone experiencing difficulties to keep them in work.
• The organisation provides a confidential support service in-house or externally to individuals who come forward with a problem.

Step 7 – Help people recover

• Employees who experience ill-health and have to take time off work are supported to make a speedy and appropriate return and adjustments are made for their successful return to work, through regular contact with their manager.
• The organisation is equipped to provide support through such government initiatives as Fit for Work and Access to Work to ensure people who experience mental ill-health can continue to work successfully.

Step 8 – Go further

• Staff consultations/surveys take place to seek information on the mental health and wellbeing of staff and also cover working conditions, communication, work-life balance, staff support and work-related or other causes of stress, with action plans drawn up to address major issues.
• The organisation regularly evaluates its approach to mental health and identifies areas it can develop in, reporting back on its progress to all employees.
• It also shares its approaches with other organisations to share best practices and learn ideas for new approaches.