With global statistics showing that 1 in 4 people experience a mental disorder each year, there will be people in your organization who are in distress. Even with the best recruitment practices, life throws us curve balls, and people go through challenges.
And like it or not, they bring them to work.
When people are mentally unwell, they are not able to perform to their potential, they are more likely to make mistakes, have accidents and injuries, be absent or unproductive, and this impacts not just them, but the whole team.
And 50% of employees will not tell their boss when they are experiencing a mental health problem. That means you may be lacking important information to manage your team effectively. So for most organizations, without an overt crisis situation to draw their attention to it, they are unaware of the degree to which these silent mental health problems are impacting their teams …. and their bottom line.
You need to know where you are, to work out where you want to be
Building and sustaining a corporate culture that promotes mental health and growth requires a scientific approach.
The first thing to do is to find out the facts of the situation. Basically, you want to know if the culture in your organization or team is what you think it is, worse than you think it is or, hopefully, way better that you thought it was.
Once you know where you are, then you’ll be able to accurately determine the Mental Health Strategy that will get you the best ROI and produce the staff engagement, and profit, you are after.
To help organizations do this,…best results for your specific organization.” with “To help organizations assess the mental health and wellbeing of their workplace, the Workplace Mental Health Institute has developed the EWS16 tool. The Employee Wellbeing Survey (EWS16) is a confidential, online tool. All participating employees receive the EWS16 swiftly and without significant interruption to the workflow. The EWS16 takes approximately 20 minutes to complete. Our inhouse Department of Psychology created the EWS16 to assess the emotional and mental state of a workforce as a whole. It is not a diagnostic tool.
The EWS16 provides you with a scientific approach to assess for a comprehensive baseline data of the mental health and wellbeing of your the organization. With our expert input, this baseline helps you identify the strategies that yield the best results for your investment, and to design a program uniquely tailored to your organization.
We offer the following Workplace Wellbeing Assessment Packages to suit your needs:
Initial Assessment
Included: Initial interview, an organization-wide survey, comprehensive report with recommendations, and debriefing session.
Methodology: The ‘Initial Assessment’ includes an initial interview with the key stakeholder/s within your organization, to identify the key questions and outcomes to be accomplished.
An anonymous, organization wide survey is then conducted to gather data and details about the current state of mental health within the organization, employee perception of mental health and wellbeing, strengths and challenges, and compliance against the 7 Pillars of a Mentally Healthy Workplace.
A comprehensive report is compiled including recommendations and an action plan for implementation over the next 3, 6, or 12 month period (depending on the size of the organization and scope of the project).
A debriefing session with the key stakeholders is conducted to detail the findings and recommendations from the initial assessment.
Assessment Plus
Included: Basic Assessment AND we consult with your representative/s over a 3, 6 or 12 month period to guide in the implementation of those recommendations AND a follow up assessment conducted at the end of the project.
Methodology: ‘Assessment Plus’ includes all the features of the Initial Assessment, which is then followed by ongoing consultation with your key representative/s over a 3, 6 or 12 month period (depending on the size of the company and scope of the project) to guide in the implementation of those recommendations.
A follow up assessment is then conducted at the conclusion of the project to track improvements and clearly demonstrate the ROI accomplished through the initiatives.
Assessment Gold
Included: A Done-For-You Program where our Consultants deliver the entire package
Methodology: Assessment Gold’ is the program of choice for busy organizations without the manpower or skill set to implement an effective workplace wellbeing program internally.
It includes all elements of the Assessment Plus package, however, our workplace mental health consultants actually work within your organization to implement the program – as agreed to by you.
With your approval, and reporting to you, they will design materials for the wellbeing program, liaise with your employees, and deliver the entire program from start to finish.
“The experience has been fantastic. It just works. It’s a chemistry I just can’t describe”
Anthony Hiscox
Tradies Club
Winner of Australian Business Award for Wellbeing Program
Case Study
A large security firm approached the Workplace Mental Health Institute to assist in the delivery of a Wellbeing Program for their 5,000+ employees, located in all states and territories around Australia. Initially they wanted to discover the degree to which mental health problems were present amongst their employees, who were geographically dispersed, of diverse cultural backgrounds, and often working in isolation and/or in remote locations.
The initial assessment demonstrated some interesting results – the levels of depression amongst employees including those in management and supervisory positions, was estimated to be 3 times the national average, and anxiety amongst employee was double the national average. This represented an unexpected risk to the organization that needed to be addressed. In addition the assessment revealed that current efforts to provide avenues of support were not being communicated effectively and not having the desired result for employees.
The results also indicated 10 key areas to focus interventions going forward, which would be likely to produce the greatest ROI in terms of reducing the degree of work-related mental distress, reduce the number of psychological injury claims, HR issues, and absenteeism. A comprehensive action plan is now in place with a 12 month timeframe for follow up assessment.
Case Study
A state government department was undergoing an extensive and long term series of restructures, which were known to be leading to a number of redundancies, relocations, and changes for all employees.
Following an initial assessment of the situation, over a period of 18 months a series of resilience building workshops were offered to all employees in metro, regional and remote locations across the state. Feedback from employees was extremely positive, with many participants indicating it was the best course they have ever attended.
In addition, the Workplace Mental Health Masterclass was delivered to Leaders and Managers across the organization to assist them to identify and respond to people experiencing mental distress, and also to create mentally healthy working environments.
Over the course of the program, psychological injury claims were demonstrated to have dropped to a fraction of their previous rate, and the initiative has been adopted as an ongoing part of continuous professional development for all employees.
Case Study
Blue Collar Team
The Health and Safety Officer for a well known constructions supplies company contacted the WMHI to find out how best to support the wellbeing of their small, male dominated workforce.
The WMHI delivered the Employee Wellbeing Survey, which identified that 72% of the workforce reported symptoms of depression or anxiety at clinically diagnosable levels, and unhelpful use of drugs or alcohol at 4x the national average. 83% reported having trouble sleeping due to worries about work, and 61% said work impacted negatively on their relationships.
These results, along with the qualitative data received, allowed the WMHI to design a highly customized short course on resilience, which was subsequently delivered across the organization.
The follow up survey revealed significant improvements on all measures, with 88% of staff reporting generally good wellbeing, rates of mental distress reduced to 9% (from 72%), and unhelpful use of drugs or alcohol brought in line with national averages. The Health and Safety Officer reported these improvements led to improved productivity and morale, reduced absenteeism, reduced psychological safety incidents, and greater employee engagement.
We are proud to work with the following corporates, government departments and not-for-profits
