MENTALLY ARMING A WORKFORCE According to Heads Up, the workplace mental health offshoot of Beyond Blue, in order to promote positive mental health and wellbeing, it’s crucial to: • Develop manager capability in positive, proactive leadership. For example, promoting employee growth, matching employee skills and strengths with tasks, and providing recognition and constructive feedback. • Encourage staff to work on tasks together, discuss ideas, share skills and take part in social activities. • Emphasise the value of the work employees do, celebrate achievements and praise effort, as well as results. When Allianz Australia mobilised their entire workforce to work from home in two and a half weeks, they sent out a survey asking people how they were feeling, and what they needed in terms of support. In response to feedback, Allianz pushed the button on several programs sitting in the business’ mental health and wellbeing strategy earlier than planned. "First we focused on 'Red-Zone Care' and ensured every single employee was aware of the support available through our EAP and heavily promoted the Mental Health First Aid Officer network,” says Rebekka Squire, Employee Engagement and Experience Manager at Allianz.
TOP THREE TIPS FOR CREATING A THRIVING WORKPLACE 1. Prevent Harm
Firstly, you have to design work in a way that minimises harm (physically and psychologically). Crucial to that is inclusive leadership and culture. Having a network of trained mental health and wellbeing officers can also help team members when the going gets tough, sometimes a conversation is all you need.
2. Promote the Positive
Ultimately, reducing the health risk profile of your employees is the best course of action you can take. Invest in the initiatives aligned to health coping and encourage participation. Have employees focus on balance - quality sleep, good food and exercise. We all know when these things are maintained, we all cope much better - even in extreme situations.
3. Reach out
Being compassionate and empathetic is crucial. Don’t be afraid to reach out to people, ask how they are and if you suspect they’re not okay, listen to them and help them create the space they need to work through that. Source: Rebekka Squire, Employee Engagement and Experience Manager, Allianz
“This is an accredited group of employees who are trained to have a conversation and offer either emotional, mental or triage support depending on the situation,” explains Squire.
Of those who took part in the program, 98 per cent said it had a positive impact on their wellbeing.
Allianz also offered additional training to their leaders to recognise the signs and symptoms of mental health concerns, and upskill on how to provide support.
Squire says Allianz will continue to build on the approach to flexibility across the organisation once COVID passes.
"We communicated a strong message around wellbeing and reassured them that we did not expect the same level of productivity or performance in these circumstances," adds Squire. BUILDING SOCIALLY-DISTANCED CONNECTIONS In an effort to counteract the loss of physical contact, Allianz hosted a two-week ‘Dare to Care’ connectedness campaign, which rewarded employees with points when they shared wellbeing behaviours such as exercise, healthy eating, rest and sleep on an intranet page. “Those points could then be redeemed in Allianz’s appreciate marketplace, where you can choose a voucher, an experience, even a blender – or you could donate your points to a paralympic committee, which is what our winner ultimately did,” says Squire.
A MORE FLEXIBLE FUTURE
“We have now given people much more flexibility in the way they work and this has created a very positive response as seen in our engagement scores. We’re looking very carefully at how we can continue the approach as we develop our future work model.” Johnstone agrees that the way of work has changed forever, as well as our approach to mental health and wellbeing. “This has to be viewed as a long game, an ongoing conversation where leaders and companies everywhere introduce regular programs and seminars, invite employees to share their ideas and experiences and are armed with the tools we need to move through these troubling times." If you or someone you know needs support, you can contact Beyond Blue Support Services 24/7 on 1300 224 636, or Lifeline 24/7 Crisis Support on 13 11 14.
7
