The Rise Of The Robots
If you are at all up to date about what’s happening in the world of technology, you know AI (that’s Artificial Intelligence) is here and about to take over a large proportion of jobs that to date, only humans have been…
Workplace
Building A Mentally Wealthy Workplace: 7th Pillar
How does your organization demonstrate a commitment to developing its mental wealth?A clear tell tale sign is a preference for considered mental health initiatives over band aid solutions. That demonstrates an organization’s commitment to developing its mental wealth. And these carefully considered and designed mental health initiatives must be ‘wrap around strategies’.
What Are The Legal Risks Of Choosing A ‘Humane’ Path When Managing Performance Of Someone With A Mental Health Problem?
I recently presented as a speaker at an ‘Employment Law for HR Managers’ Masterclass, held in Sydney. It was quite an interesting experience. First, because the focus was on employment law, whereas my specialty as a psychologist is in mental health, and also because I was engaged as a panelist, alongside three lawyers.
$1 Mil Payout For Bullying & Harassment At Work – Brace Yourselves
A court recently awarded $1 million to a NSW woman who was bullied in the workplace. That’s the largest amount we’ve ever heard of for workplace bullying. The Courts are getting serious!
It just goes to prove how serious the courts are getting about bullying and harassment in the workplace.
Why do many managers shy away from mental health at work?
It’s hard being a manager. Often, it can feel like you’re the meat in the sandwich, between the needs of the employees and the needs of the Senior Directors or Board. But when it comes to mental health, taking action can have a positive effect for both parties. And it’s great for business! So…
Building a Mentally Wealthy Workplace: 6th Pillar
When an organization makes informed responses, as opposed to knee-jerk, simplistic actions, it demonstrates the principle of ‘understanding complexity’. People are complex. That much is obvious. But it’s depressing how quick people are to label someone who is different to them.
When Fear & Stress In The Workplace Raise Their Ugly Heads
Ever wondered how people screw themselves up? Simple, we do it because we are afraid. And it’s ok. Fear is a natural survival mechanism. It’s a good thing, designed to protect us. But what happens when fear runs rampant? When your body…
What Does ‘Recovery’ Mean?
Often, when I deal with health professionals and people in training, I get a range of responses when they learn that people can recover from mental disorder. Some are surprised, some intrigued by the concept since they’ve
Building a mentally healthy workplace: 5th Pillar
Mutual responsibility is another trait of mentally wealthy workplaces, where a culture of blame is replaced by a culture of shared concern. From a workplace safety perspective, if someone sees a cord in the office over which someone could trip, whose responsibility is it to
‘Work-Life Balance’ is a trap
A colleague of mine was putting together some guidelines for her company about how to minimize workplace stress, and stay mentally and emotionally well at work, and she asked me to have a look over it and provide some feedback. Looking at the list of strategies her company had
What Can YOU Do About Stress at Work?
When it comes to workplace stress, and what to do about it, most people, most managers, will start to think about things in the workplace environment. Things that I would call ‘external factors’ like workload, overtime hours, the physical environment, etc. And these are all good considerations.
Workplace Stress – what are we really talking about here?
‘Workplace Stress’ is a term I am hearing people use more and more lately. And I like it. It highlights the fact that anybody can experience stress or distress in the workplace. You see, the Workplace Mental Health Institute specialises in the field of
How is your workplace’s Mental Wealth?
Back in 2014 I coined the new term ‘Mental Wealth’. Workplace Mental Wealth describes the business potential of an organization, as a direct result of how well it fosters the mental health of its people. But what is it exactly? It’s a measure of your organization’s ability to…
Why do so many workplaces fail at mental health?
There seems to be this idea floating about in the business world that in order to be profitable and productive, one needs to be hard and tough. Yet another contradictory idea seems to be that mental health is fluffy, soft, weak. Many people’s idea of…
Why 65% of people won’t get help if they have a mental problem
The reasons as to why people do anything, are many and complex. The research shows that around 65% of people won’t even seek treatment if they experience mental distress. The World Health Organization (WHO) says that stigma, discrimination and neglect prevent
Building a Mentally Healthy Workplace: 4th Pillar
What do mentally wealthy organizations differently to others? Good question, right? What Mentally wealthy organizations do is they see resilience and wellbeing as an integral part of their culture, in the extraordinary cases – it IS their culture. It’s not just an add on. Think back to
Beware Declaring War on Bullying
A common mistake people make, especially at work, is to assume that it’s ‘others’ who are being a bully. And that bullying is an abuse of power by some other people more powerful than I. But this is self deceit. Many bullies…
Is Mental Health Really Getting Worse or Are We Just Talking About it More?
Across the ages, people have always experienced mental health issues. Whether it was overwhelming anxiety, depression, or even ‘psychotic’ episodes, which in past times would more likely have been explained in a spiritual reference…
3 little known things that are making people’s mental health worse
The mental health in the workplace is in crisis. Yet most people, even clinicians, don’t understand the depth of the problem. Here, we briefly reveal some problems in current approaches.
Few people have problems acknowledging that, as a society, we are over medicated.
Top 3 Tips for HR Managers
Statistically, once a person has been absent due to stress of mental ill-health for more than 3 days, the likelihood of them returning to work is very slim. We know staying at work is better for their mental health. And for the business, when someone has gone home…