Start with these five actions to create your mentally healthy workplace. For small to large organisations, try to include your workers in each one.
Think about your goals and actions
What are the goals and values of your business? Now think about why you want to create a mentally healthy workplace and what your vision is. To help answer these questions, think about what is working well in your business and what isn’t. Once you know what is working well and what isn’t, pick the key areas to start creating your mentally healthy workplace. The Victorian Government has created a guide to help.
For example, your workplace has flexible work hours to help workers manage their children’s school drop-off and pick-up hours. Your workers feel like their mental health and wellbeing is being supported because of this. But they don’t feel like there are enough training programs. Talk to your workers about what they would like to learn more about to help them grow in the workplace.
Create a positive team and workplace culture
Create a positive workplace culture that supports a personal and professional safe environment. To help get started, think about your workplace and if it promotes trust and a culture of speaking up. For workers struggling with mental health and wellbeing, work together to make changes. For example, offer support that meets their individual needs and situation.
Grow and improve leadership
Leaders that value mental health and wellbeing are good for your business and your workers. Support and promote opportunities for all workers to grow and develop their understanding of mental health. Think about giving leaders the training and support to manage people, especially through difficult times.
For example, ask leaders at your workplace if they feel supported and empowered to show vulnerability. Do they know how to safely speak about their lived experience in the workplace? Do your leaders understand their role in creating a mentally healthy workplace?
Policies, practices and systems
Your workplace should consider the mental health and wellbeing of workers in all practices. This includes workplace policies and systems. To get started, ask yourself if your workplace already has mental health policies in place. Are they helping your workers and your business needs? Do you need to design policies and systems to create a mentally healthy workplace? To help answer these questions, talk to your workers,
and make changes together.
Proactive risk management
Sometimes psychosocial hazards happen at work. Psychosocial hazards are parts of work that can lead to work-related stress or harm if they’re ignored. This could be long work hours, high and low job demands or no emotional support from managers. Think about your workplace and its psychosocial hazards. Talk to your workers about how you can reduce or avoid them. Make sure psychosocial hazards are reported and measured with openness and honesty.
For example, train workers on what psychosocial hazards are and how to reduce them in the workplace. You might do this yourself or get an external trainer to do this for you. WorkSafe Victoria also has a range of resources available.
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