It’s clear the last two years have had a significant and wide-reaching impact on people’s mental health, with people's personal and working lives suddenly filled with uncertainty and instability. The effects of the pandemic coupled with the already high rates of mental ill-health within Australia's semi-skilled, trades and agriculture industries, should make employee mental health a priority for employers.

And while many companies may have rolled out additional wellbeing initiatives, such as additional mental wellbeing days and access to EAPs, more than one in two Australian employees say they’d hide a mental health condition at work to avoid being judged or discriminated against. Further to this, 67 percent of workers feel as though these gestures to better mental health are just that – gestures – that are unlikely to create any significant impact.

So as we move into another year of working against the backdrop of uncertainty, here are some steps employers can consider to rectify the situation, and help employees feel more supported at work.

Address the stigma

Over the last 12 months, 25.1 percent of men working in trades and industrial roles have experienced mental illness, compared to 18 percent of other Australian men. Research suggests that one of the major reasons why these rates are so much higher for these roles is due to the stigma and lack of mental health literacy that permeates these male-dominated industries. So while conversations about mental wellness may have increased, it's a topic that remains shrouded in shame, prejudice, and discrimination.

The first thing employers can do to address the issue of mental health stigma is to actually acknowledge its existence and how it might be affecting their workforce. According to a survey from McKinsey, there is a pronounced disconnect between employer and employee perspectives on stigma in the workplace: while 80 percent of the full-time-employees believe that an anti-stigma or awareness campaign would be useful, only 23 percent of employers reported having implemented such a program. Further, when employers were asked to prioritise 11 potential behavioural-health-focused initiatives, they ranked stigma reduction last.

Moving forward, companies should consider creating targeted programs that educate people and promote supportive teams to shift perceptions of mental illness. This can include providing mental-health-literacy training to all employees, such as mental health first aid, and developing leader-specific training to help managers recognise signs of mental distress amongst their teams.

Be a communicative leader

When it comes to addressing mental health in any workplace, communication will be crucial, particularly when it comes to driving sustainable cultural change. Communicating a mental health message once is unlikely to render the necessary impact on an ingrained culture.

Instead, an effective approach is to ensure that the message is being broadcast from team leaders and managers—both formally and informally. In fact, when paired with leadership training, programs focused on psychological safety and broad-based mental health awareness have proven to be effective in bettering mental health outcomes at work.

Create an environment of psychological safety

In order for mental health to become an open, honest conversation in the workplace, employees need to feel physiologically safe. Psychological safety can be defined as a “shared belief held by member of a team that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking”. That is, they feel safe to voice opinions, take risks and ask questions without fear of being criticised or judged.

Essentially, a psychologically safe workplace would allow for employees to feel comfortable voicing their struggles and challenges without the fear of facing a negative response from colleagues or management.

According to the State of Wellbeing in Construction report, it was found that semi-skilled workers find it difficult to discuss feelings and emotions with colleagues, and the nature of the work has made social support more difficult. Employers and team leaders can work to create a more emotionally safe and supportive environments by demonstrating empathy and being transparent about their own mental health struggles. Doing so can help create the kind of environment where it's ok to be vulnerable at work, allowing employees to feel safe to follow suit.

Take action, don't just tick a box

When it comes to bettering mental health, it's important to note that every workforce and, indeed, every individual, will have different needs. Overlooking this could be one of the reasons why so many employees believe their organisations is simply using current workplace mental health initiatives to "tick a box".

For example, many companies will have an Employee Assistance Program (EAP), and while employees should be reminded that this is available if they need initial support, it's important to remember that this kind of program won't necessarily be appropriate for everyone. In fact, many employees will have support structures already in place, and will in fact require individualised support from their employer.

As such, it will be important for organisational leaders and managers to actively communicate with their teams to find out what their specific needs are, and work together to identify personalised solutions. Creating a supportive workplace with widely available flexibility and customisation is a significant way to help people facing mental health challenges —disclosed or undisclosed—overcome barriers.



You may also find these articles relating to employee mental health and wellbeing useful:

• Creating a psychologically safe workplace for trades and semi-skilled workers during Covid
• Changing attitudes to keep the farming workforce safe
• Changing attitudes to keep the manufacturing workforce safe
• Building strong foundations for mental health in construction
• Looking after employees mental health as Covid-19 continues

If you’re looking for staff or require guidance on ensuring you’re compliant with workplace best practice, contact Acclaimed Workforce today.