When it comes to mental health in the workplace, Sheila Lord, by her own admission, has learned from her mistakes. She saw first-hand how businesses and organisations weren’t taking mental health seriously and the detrimental impact on the industry as a whole.
To tackle this head-on, Sheila started BMR, and today the company leads the way in mental health support programmes, all of which have a definitive return on investment. Well known for her ability to ‘cut to the chase’, Sheila believes that workplace wellbeing isn’t just about fruit bowls and yoga and that you can’t simply magic away employee stress by ‘fixing’ people. The problem is often more complex, but BMR is designed to help.
Takeaways and Timestamps
02:40 Pressure builds on CEOs and business leaders to deal with workplace mental health, and they don’t know where to start.
05:20 Workspace mental health is a shared responsibility; as individuals, we need to take ownership of our mental health, and in the workplace, we need to create a culture where we can have support when we need it.
8:00 Often, one thing that gets missed is leaders; after conducting engagement surveys, they do not follow up with conversations with employees to get the complete information about the required changes and next steps.
10:33 Why do workplace wellbeing programs and initiatives have relatively low uptake and engagement?
16:53 What are the dangers of implementing a wellbeing strategy to tick a box and not ask yourself why you need it?
21:18 The benefits of implementing a systemic workplace wellbeing approach even if your company is doing great.
23:32 Employees are a vital part of any organisation; they drive your business forward every day, and having good mental health in the workplace is not an employee perk or reward.
26:31 What are the visible signs of mental health issues, and how having a risk-based approach can help prevent problems from occurring in the future and know what to do when someone needs help?
30:42 Everybody has a shared responsibility for mental health and workplace welling, so let’s work together to create happy workplaces.
35:43 Fear is often the root cause of inaction when addressing mental health and wellness in the workplace.
