MENTAL HEALTH IN CRISIS - The Workplace Wellbeing Paradox

In its ‘Health and Wellbeing at Work’ report, the CIPD states:

“There is a workplace wellbeing paradox where, despite an increasing number of workplace health and wellbeing services being put in place, employees have an increasing number of mental health issues.”

I’m worried about the direction workplace wellbeing has taken. Long-term sickness absence due to poor mental health is increasing 1. It’s not a problem of investment or commitment – spending on wellbeing has increased substantially since 2020 2 and most organisations are set to keep the same level or increase funding for wellbeing in 2025/26 3 -  it’s a problem of where that investment is being directed. Outsourcing support to Employee Assistance Programmes and setting up networks of Mental Health Champions / First Aiders has become the default approach in workplaces, with ubiquitous Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training 4. 

SO, WHY ISN’T ALL THIS INVESTMENT WORKING?

I believe that there is great value in having Champions, and MHFA is a useful part of preparing them for that role, but not if, cuckoo-like, they push all the other vital elements of a holistic wellbeing strategy out of the nest.

What’s the problem with the MHFA/First Aiders plan?

1. It's in the name! FIRST AID is something you give someone once they’ve already had an accident (or reached crisis point). In a sense, it’s already too late, if we accept that the crisis might have been avoided.
2. Champions are brilliant BUT, the idea that they can promote wellbeing initiatives as well as be on hand in case someone reaches out to them in an emergency is mostly unrealistic given the increasing work pressures most of them face.
3. Where does responsibility lie? With this approach, responsibility is pushed to the struggling individual to seek help, but the nature of mental illness, together with greater fear about job security, means that many will never do so – they’ll slog on until they crash, and everything becomes so much more difficult to fix. 

WHAT'S THE SOLUTION?
Workplaces need to re-direct funds into two areas that should come before the First Aid stage:

• Preventative Wellbeing Initiatives – a programme of workplace interventions that promote a wellbeing culture for everyone, help build resilience and safeguard mental health. I suggest basing this on Martin Seligman’s PERMA approach (Positive Emotion, Engagement, Positive Relationships, Meaning, Accomplishment) 5. I also recommend re-purposing and re-training existing Champions / Mental Health First Aiders to develop this work.
  
  
• Equipping Managers to Support Mental Wellbeing. Managers are increasingly being withdrawn from wellbeing responsibilities 6 and yet they are the ones on the ground, with their staff. They need to be supported in nurturing trusting relationships and a wellbeing culture for their team. And this doesn’t mean sticking them on a MHFA course as is so often the case. The main workplace health and wellbeing challenge is lack of line manager skills and confidence 7  and while MHFA is great for increasing knowledge of mental health conditions, it does little to build their confidence in opening-up conversations with colleagues.

WHAT I CAN DO FOR THE WELLBEING OF YOUR PEOPLE

Activate training and development
The main problem with most Mental Health training is its assumption that what is lacking is knowledge about mental health conditions – its FOCUS ON FACTS. Of course some knowledge is vital but in all my years of working with managers and champions, it’s their CONFIDENCE in how to have conversations about mental wellbeing that is lacking, how to lower their own internal barriers, how to give practical support. My drama-based and active training methods engage participants emotionally and physically as well as intellectually, creating greater impact and real behaviour change.

Aound the UK there are thousands of dedicated, enthusiastic individuals who volunteered to become Mental Health Champions. They were almost certainly put through the 1- or 2-day Mental Health First Aid course, giving them extensive information about different conditions. And then they were left to it – first port of call for anyone who needs help. I know from direct experience that many of these people are left wondering what they’re supposed to do. They can go for months without anyone calling on them (despite their face being on posters in toilets across the building) or someone does need their help and they feel very under prepared for those difficult conversations. I can work with this incredibly valuable human resource to turn them from Champions of First Aid to Champions of Preventative Wellbeing in their workplaces. My Mental Health Champion Masterclass gives them the confidence and specific tools to promote organisation-wide wellbeing strategies and allows them to explore and practise how to have those challenging conversations with colleagues if they are called upon.

Put managers back in the picture
The CIPD shows that organisations cite the number one challenge for employee mental health is “lack of line manager skills/confidence to support wellbeing”. The answer is not to stick them on a Mental Health First Aid course, giving them lots of facts to remember but no more confidence in how to talk to their team members. My Mental Wellbeing For Managers programme allows them to explore their own barriers to supporting mental health - the stigma, biases, fear, and how that impacts their willingness to engage with people. My drama approaches allow them to experience difficult conversations, to identify how they tend to shut it down or open it, and to practice new responses. They develop confidence in using 3 essential skills:

• Spotting the signs
• Opening Up The Conversation
• Signposting Support

And, of course, they explore how to look after their own mental well-being.

What people have said about these programmes:

"I have attended many courses with similar content, this one has provided me with more useful info and more confidence than the others put together."

"The best course I’ve attended to date.  Interactive sessions balanced out with the learning was great."

"Outstanding facilitator – confident, knowledgeable, great communicator.  One of the best courses I have attended."

Civil Service Department Managers

For more information visit:

https://www.activelearningteam.com/mental-wellbeing