Workplace mental health and wellbeing are hot topics and there is an ever-growing selection of mental health courses from a variety of training providers. It can be difficult to know what to offer your employees, so here I break down some of the main options.   Workplace mental health interventions largely fall into three categories: Depending on your budget, your interventions should cover all three.  You can read more about these in our interactive report.   Prevention (e.g. free healthy food, gym membership, mindfulness, resilience training) Treating the problem (e.g. Men ..read more

The Ultimate Guide to Working from Home 34 hacks, tools and ideas to make working from home great. Mental health & wellbeing, how to become a great communicator on video calls, managing distractions, keeping motivated and setting up your workspace. Chapter 1: Setting up your work space. 1. Sit comfortably Did you know that your posture can directly affect your mood? This is why it is important to have the right posture for work. Be serious about your workspace when you are working from home – sitting on a sofa or bed is a no-no.   2. Check the advice on how to set up your space. A ..read more

Sarah Morris, founder and director of Brain Happy suffered from nausea, sore throats, muscle aches and fatigue for around 6 years before she realised that it was caused by burnout and stress. Here she outlines how she searched for a cure and finally found one where she least expected it. Physical symptoms I was 16 when I first started feeling sick. I had had a bout of gastro-enteritis where I was up in the night with a fever and vomiting. I got over it in a couple of days but in the weeks that followed I continued to feel nauseous on-and-off, with dizziness, ringing in the ears, muscle aches a ..read more

Workplace mental health, also sometimes referred to as workplace wellbeing or corporate wellness is very much on the workplace agenda.  Here, I look at how mental health relates to the workplace and what employers and employees can gain. Workplace stress and its link to physical and mental health problems Jeffrey Pfeffer, Professor of Organizational Behaviour of Stanford Graduate school of Business, last year published a book, ‘Dying for a Paycheck’, in which he argues that in the western world, work is one of the leading causes of stress, and stress is a leading cause of many of the mos ..read more

What are some of the ways you can build morale, productivity, motivation and wellbeing amongst your team while everyone is working from home? Not being able to engage with people on a face-to-face basis presents a number of challenges. Firstly, we miss the subtle body language and voice tone cues during communication, and this can lead to a less than perfect understanding of one another. Secondly, the lack of social contact can be a causal factor in lowering levels of wellbeing and mental health. These things are not good on either an individual level or an organisational level.   So, her ..read more

It’s that time of year again when you need to come up with an original, inclusive and fun team building activity.  You’ve done go-karting, paintballing, cocktail-making and inflatable sports day and are looking for new ideas.  But has your organisation ever been left wondering whether your all-day paint-balling excursion was worth the expense?  Perhaps a different approach to team building activities is in order.   Ask yourself some key questions   1. What is the purpose of the team building day? Is it just to have fun and make people more friendly with each other, or ..read more

What was the most shared Facebook post in 2019 on workplace mental health in the USA?  An announcement by the U.S. Chamber Foundation and the Department of Veterans Affairs that they have launched an effort to prioritize mental health awareness in the workplace.  But what actions are actually being taken and why is this cause being led by a department dedicated only to veterans? Actions to improve workplace mental health and well-being in the U.S.A As part of the effort by the U.S. Chamber Foundation and other collaborators, organisations are signing a “Pledge to Prioritize Mental He ..read more

Approaching difficult conversations at work is never easy.  We show you how to tell your boss you are feeling unhappy: what to say and how to say it to maximise the chances you get what you came for and everyone leaves feeling positive. One of our key drivers in life is feeling valued.  We feel happy when we have a purpose and that purpose is recognised by others. Workplaces that leave their employees not feeling appreciated, can leave employees feeling unhappy and looking for work elsewhere. Talking things over with your boss and pointing out the problem is a worthwhile approach bef ..read more