The 10th of October marks this year’s World Mental Health Day.
Minds’ campaign this year is ‘If we all do one thing, we can change everything’ which is very fitting when thinking about starting a mental health or wellbeing strategy in the workplace.
Starting with one thing, such as an awareness day in the office, can open up a conversation about mental health and let your employees know that it is a safe topic to discuss in the workplace.
One idea could be to ask all your staff to think of one thing they do for their own mental health personally. This can then be pooled into a list of ideas you can share for employees to try if they are struggling. See our example from last year above:
You can also start to see trends and commonalities of things your staff enjoy and you could possibly facilitate in future wellbeing initiatives. For example, if multiple staff find walking helps their mental health you could start a step count challenge or a lunchtime walking club to help encourage healthy behaviours.
It only takes one thing to start your journey to supporting mental health in the workplace and it doesn’t need to take lots of time or resources. One small thing can make a big difference to someone who needs help.
World Mental Health Day | Mind, the mental health charity – help for mental health problems