Vueling Airlines, Colonel Dame Kelly Holmes, former Olympian and mental health inspiration, and host Aimee Clarke, editor-in-chief of GoodHabitz Studios. The pandemic, acknowledgement
that at least one in five employees will be diagnosed with a mental health condition in their lifetime, and the rising prevalence of burnout and stress – including while settling into new roles and lifestyles on assignments – means employees have higher expectations of their employers. That said, only 37% of the 20,000 employees GoodHabitz surveyed globally said they regularly discuss their wellbeing with their manager. This despite 78% saying a closer connection with colleagues and line managers would boost their wellbeing at work. “Now more than ever people
need and expect mental wellness support from their employers,” said Aimee Clarke. “The goal is to raise the bar for workplace support, create positive culture change, improve personal wellbeing, organisational performance and productivity. Creating a workplace environment where your people feel it’s safe to open up is crucial for their wellbeing.”
INDIVIDUAL, TEAM AND ORGANISATION INTERVENTIONS To create cultures where this can happen, Sandrien Boogaard said, “Wellbeing is a team sport. You need everybody to achieve results.” Yet as Dame Kelly Holmes pointed out: “It’s not easy, opening up. Is it going to show some kind of weakness?” Yet the reality is that mental wellness is everybody’s issue. “We all experience stress all the time, even though it is actually a mental health condition,” said Mar Casas. Sandrien Boogaard, who has
worked with some of the world’s largest brands in people and culture roles, noted how wellbeing is taking a central role in organisations since the pandemic. “This is a wonderful movement. However, it’s also fair to say that there is an
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Dame Kelly Holmes speaking at the GoodHabitz’s webinar, ‘Time to Thrive’
increase in sickness through mental health, which is very concerning. Employees also indicate that they don’t feel comfortable to open up at work.” A good starting point to address
this dislocation between employee needs and what employers currently offer is to ‘humanise’ workplaces. This means recognising that employees are people with lives beyond work. “Events outside work influence your mental health,” said Sandrien Boogaard. “There is no stop button you can press when you walk into the office. You bring your sadness with you.” After acknowledging external
stress, life events like relationship breakdowns and grief in people’s everyday lives, the second step is normalising conversations about mental health. “Having a socially supportive environment where you feel able to at least share ‘I’m not having my best day today’ is a wonderful thing,” continued Sandrien Boogaard. Describing
GoodHabitz’s “individual, team and organisation”
(ITO) approach, she added: “Wellbeing is a team sport so it’s something everybody can do. We can all look out for our colleagues with empathy and openness on an individual and team level. Managers too can have a conversation in regular one-to-ones around general wellbeing.” At the organisation level,
“At GoodHabitz, we state that ‘everybody deserves a coach’”. It provides an employee assistance programme and partners with OpenUp so its people can access a coach whenever they need, without requiring HR or managers’ permission. Leadership from the top – especially given CCLA’s finding that fewer CEOs are championing the issue – is also critical for change. “Role models who open up can encourage others to do the same and is really powerful,” added Sandrien Boogaard, before handing over to veteran of the British Army, Dame Kelly Holmes, whose testimony is particularly relevant in the workplace context.
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