Mental health in the workplace – maintaining momentum

Mental Health Awareness Week takes place every year in May, and it's a great opportunity to raise awareness of mental health in the workplace and to review the support you have in place for your employees. However, the real challenge is maintaining momentum and keeping mental health on the agenda throughout the rest of the year.

Here are some practical steps to help you maintain momentum on mental health in the workplace:

• Appoint a mental health champion: Nominate an employee to lead on mental health awareness in your business. This person can help to drive initiatives, provide peer support, and keep mental health on the agenda.
• Develop a mental health strategy: A formal mental health strategy can help to provide structure and direction to your efforts. It should identify the key mental health risks in your business, set out the support available to employees, and identify measures to monitor and improve mental wellbeing over time.
• Train your managers: Line managers are often the first to notice when an employee is struggling with their mental health. Providing mental health awareness training for all managers can help them to identify the signs of mental health issues and have supportive conversations with employees.
• Promote your EAP: If you have an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), make sure employees know about it and how to access it. Many employees are unaware of the support that's available to them.
• Create a supportive culture: Ultimately, maintaining momentum on mental health requires a culture where employees feel able to talk openly about their mental health without fear of stigma or negative consequences. Regular communications, visible leadership support, and a zero-tolerance approach to bullying and harassment are all important elements of a supportive culture.