Mental distress or illness doesn’t discriminate and can happen to all sorts of people, for all sorts of reasons, at almost any time.
For workplaces and people managers, it’s important to be inclusive and supportive of people experiencing mental distress, but it’s not always easy to know how to get started.
Our three e-learning modules, which include videos, factsheets and templates, can show you how. It provides people managers with the skills and resources to open up the conversation about mental health challenges and support employees through the tough times.
Topics you’ll find in each module are:
Module 1: Building trust and engagement
- The barriers to talking about mental health in the workplace
- How to make mental health conversations easier
- What we mean by ‘mental health’
Module 2: Problem solving together
- Normalising mental health conversations at work
- Legal obligations around mental health
- How to find positive solutions with an employee experiencing mental distress or illness
- How to support someone during time off work, and their return
Module 3: Building mentally healthy workplaces
- What makes a mentally healthy workplace
- Non-discriminatory policies and processes
- How to be a mental health champion and influence upwards
The modules should take no more than one hour each to complete. They are designed to be user-friendly so can be done on the go from your mobile phone. Don’t worry if you only get part way through a module, your progress will be saved so you can pick up where you left off.
Note: you will first need to register for an account using your email address. You will then be emailed a link to set your password, after which, you will be able to log in and access the e-learning.
Videos
These videos and supplementary factsheets and templates make up part of the e-learning package and can also be found within the modules. The videos interview managers and employees at non-office based workplaces to hear about their experiences of mental health at work.
Episode 1: Opening the conversation
This video covers how important it is to talk about mental health in the workplace. It offers some ideas for how managers can open the kōrero around mental health challenges alongside supportive behaviours, language and team practices.
Episode 2: Stress
This video covers how stress can play out in the workplace, and how managers can notice it in their team members and support them through.
Episode 3: Bullying
In this video, we hear some employees’ experiences of bullying in the workplace and how trusted managers can help.
Episode 4: The hard stuff
We don’t always know what’s going on for our people behind the scenes. This video shows how going through tough times and having to navigate work on top of that can be difficult, especially in industries where there is a culture of having to be ‘hard’ or ‘strong’.
Episode 5: Culture change
This video talks to the responsibility of managers and leaders in creating a mentally healthy workplace culture that supports people when they’re not doing so well.