Supporting staff this Blue Monday and beyond

Posted 3 months ago

Since its inception back in 2005, Blue Monday has helped to raise awareness worldwide about the importance of promoting positive wellbeing in the workplace. It gives employers an opportunity to see what other businesses are doing to support their staff, and for employees to understand that there doesn’t need to be a negative stigma attached to the subject of mental wellbeing.

However, it’s extremely important for all businesses to recognise that mental wellbeing is more than just a tickbox exercise for a single day in the calendar year. Mental health issues don’t come and go as quickly as awareness days, and for that reason businesses need to ensure that they’re working towards creating a supportive environment year-round.

The past few years have been difficult for individuals and businesses, with troubles relating to the pandemic, politics, global human rights issues, and the economic climate. If you haven’t already started putting in place a mental health support strategy for your staff, you should certainly look to make a start now!

Finding mental health support is not easy for those struggling, so by putting support systems in place for staff, you’ll create a more caring and supportive culture for all employees. As a bonus, this will also help you create a more productive and committed workforce.

Here’s some simple ideas to help support your employees with their mental health and wellbeing:

Remind employees to look after their mental health

This may seem like common sense, but when you get caught up in day-to-day struggles it can be easy to lose sight of taking care of yourself and checking in on your mental health. There are plenty of freely available resources and blogs that you can share with staff.

Set a time to have a one-to-one catch up with those in your team

A cup of tea and informal chat can go a long way to support someone and give them the boost they need.

Instead of discussing workloads and deadlines, ask them about how they are feeling and have an open conversation about their mental health. Listening to someone and letting them talk about any problems they are facing can help clear their mind.

Appoint Mental Health First Aiders

It is extremely important to ensure that mental health and wellbeing is supported from the top down in any organisation. It is a good idea to appoint Mental Health First Aiders (MHFAs) to help support employee wellbeing, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be members from the management team. Reach out to all staff and ask if anyone is interested in becoming a MHFA.

Encourage your staff to take regular breaks

Check in on your staff and remind them to take regular breaks, including their full lunch break. Eating a nutritious lunch and getting some fresh air will not only help them remain more productive in the afternoon but it will help contribute to their general wellbeing.

Let staff know they can ask for help

Make sure your staff know that they will be met with kindness and compassion if they need help. Open lines of communication and honesty are valuable traits and companies that can instil these into their culture will reap the rewards.

It’s important to remember that looking after your employees mental health and wellbeing is ongoing, not just one day of the year. Taking steps towards supporting your employees wellbeing can make a real difference to them and even give your company a competitive advantage.

How can iHasco help?

Here at iHasco, we offer a range of courses as part of our Mental Health & Wellbeing bundle:

By providing this training, we hope that we can play our part in raising awareness for both employees and employers on understanding, recognising and managing mental ill health as well as maintaining and celebrating good mental health and wellbeing!

Interested in any of these courses? Great! Why not claim a free, no-obligation trial to them today?! Alternatively, you can request a bespoke quote and we'll be in touch to discuss your training needs.