Workplace strategy 6 – Early intervention resources

The Roadmap Planner has been designed to help businesses understand psychological safety and offer guidance about building your own Workplace Wellbeing Plan. Having a Workplace Wellbeing Plan means you will be taking steps to meet your Work, Health, and Safety duty of care by managing psychosocial hazards at work. There is also a strong return on any investment in creating thriving and healthy workplaces.
 
For every $1 spent on building a mentally healthy workplace there is a $2.30 gain.
These benefits result from improved productivity, reduced absenteeism, and lower numbers of compensation claims. Increased morale and lower staff turnover are also benefits of a thriving workplace.

The current challenge in our sector is there is still stigma around mental health in the workplace and many people are trying to cope on their own and are not speaking up or reaching out for the support they need. The earlier someone gains support the better the outcomes in the short and longer term. If people receive help at an early stage, the severity and duration of mental health and wellbeing concerns can be significantly reduced.

Connecting regularly with employees is so important as these check-ins build trust and positive working relationships. Promoting self-care and leading by example are also essential if we want people to prioritise looking after their mental health. Having regular open and honest conversations without fear or judgement helps to break down stigma and creates an environment in which people feel safe to open-up and reach out.

Increasing awareness of how to seek support at work and providing access and information about the range of tools and supports available, can assist with ensuring support is accessed as soon as possible.

So where do you start?
  
Try these as your first steps: 

• Read story 6 ‘Koen – Early intervention resources’ in the Healthy Heads Planner
• Encourage leaders, supervisors, mangers to include wellbeing check-ins every month with themselves and their team members
• Share the following links with key people
  • Accessing Tools, Resource and Supports
  • Wellbeing conversations tip sheet
  • My organisational tools
  • Conversation guide
• Share with your whole organisation the
  • Healthy Heads Workforce Handbook
  • Healthy Heads multilingual resources
• Consider the industry specific, mental health training courses listed on the Healthy Heads website here

By completing these first steps you are well on the way to applying some of the elements within the Seven Workplace Strategies.  

In addition to the above, Healthy Heads and AP Psychology & Consulting Services are offering FREE two-part workshops to assist businesses to create a plan to manage psychosocial hazards at work. This will assist businesses in creating more psychologically healthy and safe workplaces in alignment with the National Mental Health and Wellbeing Roadmap.
 
For dates and to register click here: Psychological Health and Safety Action Plan Workshop – Healthy Heads in Trucks & Sheds
 
If you would like further information on our Roadmap Planner please reach out to our Director, Industry Relations and Program Management, Melissa Weller on [email protected]

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