Stress and wellbeing

Despite increased awareness, many people are still concerned about the stigma attached to mental illness – for example being diagnosed with depression, anxiety, anorexia, bulimia or Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), along with the impact of a diagnosis on their career.

Very few people feel confident or equipped to manage stress in others. Mental health is still the elephant in the room and employees are often reluctant to raise the subject for fear of discrimination.

On the flip side, managers will often avoid the subject for fear of ‘putting their foot in it’ and making matters worse, or unintentionally provoking legal consequences.

 

In organisational cultures where mental health remains under the waterline, the consequences can be devastating.  Left undetected, these types of illnesses can spiral out of control and result in sickness absence, crisis situations or even worse, suicide.

A culture of wellbeing can help provide positive outcomes for both employees and the organisation to proactively manage stress and provide appropriate support, but also reduce sickness absence levels, increase resilience and boost engagement.

So, what can you do to create this?

  • Be understanding of needs
  • Know your people
  • Recognise the warning signs of stress
  • Offer flexibility around family
  • Encourage activity and time-out at work
  • Make work-life balance a priority
  • Communicate freely with everyone
  • Talk openly about problems

Wellbeing workshops

We work with a number of organisations who’ve recognised the importance of individual wellbeing, both inside and outside of the workplace, and of having a wellbeing training programme in place for leaders and managers.

Our ‘Let’s talk’ workshop shows you how to have conversations with people around mental health.

The aim of the workshop is to:

  • Enable leaders and managers to proactively and reactively promote, and manage, wellbeing in the workplace
  • Use our ‘Let’s talk’ model to recognise the early symptoms of stress and how to manage these
  • Help participants understand their role in creating a culture where wellbeing and mental health are discussed openly without the fear of stigma
  • Support managers to build and develop their own levels of resilience

Read our case study about how ‘Let’s talk’ worked for Wythenshawe Community Housing Group.

Would you like us to help your organisation?

If you’d like to know more about creating a culture of wellbeing, we’d love to talk.

Call us on 01928 726969, or email info@justlibra.com