World Mental Health Day 2017
To celebrate World Mental Health Day, we talk to Group HR Director Pippa Savory about how Fourfront Group are supporting this great initiative and why it is so important.
October 10th is World Mental Health Day and the theme this year is workplace wellbeing and whilst mental health problems can affect anyone, any day of the year, we feel it’s great to get everyone talking about mental health in the workplace.
It is currently reported that 70% of construction workers are suffering from some kind of mental health issue. Male suicide is on the increase at a whopping 16%, that's 3.7 times the national average coming from the construction industry. It can be an incredibly stressful industry, and we have a duty of care to our employees to make sure they are supported and have access to resources to help them tackle any mental health issues they may be facing. Without discrimination or stigma.
A solid wellbeing strategy really revolves around three core areas; physical, social and mental wellbeing. All three are equally as important however if you are feeling emotionally and mentally well then it is likely you will be more motivated to make sure your physical and social needs are met.
We run wellbeing initiatives all year round but World Mental Health day really is an opportunity to show our support and help work towards removing the stigma that can surround it. 1 in 4 people experience a mental health problem every year. Half of them say that the associated isolation and shame is worse than the condition itself. We therefore need to do all we can to demonstrate to our employees that they do not have to feel this way and that they are not alone.
We want to make Fourfront a place where our employees can speak up. World Mental Health Day is a real opportunity we have seized to remind our employees that they can.
Today we will be offering all staff a nourishing morning smoothie made with ingredients chosen for their specific mental enhancing properties along with ‘at desk’ massages. There is a suggestions box where employees can write their feelings about what stresses them out during their time both in and outside of work; the feedback from this will be used to help inform stress workshops.
From here an internal video will outline all the resources we have readily available should they ever find themselves struggling, this includes our internal online wellbeing forum, where they can read and share stories about mental health and stress, information on who are our ‘wellbeing champions’ should they want to talk to someone and information on our mental health awareness training.
If you would like further information with regards to workplace wellbeing or how to create a working environment that supports employee wellbeing contact us on info@fourfrontgroup.co.uk
