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 On the 15th of September Australians were encouraged to ask each other 'R U OK?' as part of the national suicide prevention initiative. It was a great opportunity to raise awareness about mental health at work, and we will have another opportunity to do so in the second week of October during the Mental Health Week. I wonder how you use these events in your workplace – as a one-day in the year event, or as part of an overall well-being strategy? We need healthy and well people – both mentally and physically – at work every day, so it makes sense for leaders to keep a constant focus on employee well-being. Michael Beer, emeritus professor at Harvard Business School, argues we need leaders who will build great institutions that do "well" in terms of bottom line results and do "good". In his book published this month, Higher Ambition: How Great Leaders Create Economic and Social Value, Beer examines how CEOs from major companies around the globe made a positive difference for their employees, their customers and their community while not neglecting profits. At ResolutionsRTK we have observed many organisations who range from delivering results at an alarming human cost to their employees' well-being, to those who achieve results with well integrated strategies for a healthy workforce. Let me explain what I mean by integrated well-being. Firstly, there is a documented plan that links health and well-being to the organisational strategic elements such as vision, culture and leadership development, and includes measures that matter to the executive team. One of the most crucial aspects of delivering both economic and social value is developing leaders who can create positive workplaces that enhance mental wellness and who lead authentically. Secondly, the strategy includes all three elements of prevention and intervention: (1) pro-active primary prevention, (2) reactive secondary, resolving issues early as soon as symptoms appear, and (3) pro and tertiary injury management and return to work. Thirdly, skills (awareness and training) are considered and delivered in each of these three elements, some targeting all levels of management and others for all staff. Pro-active prevention usually includes health promotion addressing the relevant skills identified by a consultation process with staff e.g. a HOP (healthy organisational program) committee. A few examples of such programs are, 'Resilience skills – for all staff', 'Managing mental health in the workplace – for managers and OHS professionals', 'Managing change', and 'Conflict resolution skills'. Fourthly, all the well-being policies and strategies are underpinned by support resources e.g. Employee Assistance Programs, coaching, debriefs, conflict resolution services. If this done well, the managers or employees know exactly how to access internal or external assistance when needed, e.g. a critical incident occurs or someone is concerned about an employee's state of mental health. And fifthly, both physical and mental health aspects are integrated in various policies, training, and health promotion aspects. OHS policies, for example, need to include psychological health, not just in the policy statements but in the risk management processes. Our bodies are connected with our minds and our brains, so promoting physical fitness and exercise can increase our cognitive capacity such as memory as well as reduce the level of anger and stress we feel, as a recent SAP study by the Body Brain Performance Institute confirmed. If you would like to talk more about how an integrated wellbeing program could be implemented in your organisation, please feel free to give me a call on 03 8681 2444. In the meantime, it's a good opportunity to begin raising awareness of the value of well-being during the forthcoming Mental Health Week.
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