It’s the ‘M’ word that we all know about but that can sometimes be tricky to bring up in conversation or recognise when there’s a problem. But, the fact is that many of us will experience mental health issues at some point in our lives with one in four adults experiencing at least one diagnosable mental health problem each year.
While the subject has gained lots of attention form the media and general public in recent years, thanks in part to high profile figures such as Princes William and Harry speaking out about their own battles, it is still often viewed as a taboo matter, particularly in the workplace. That’s why this week, for Mental Health Awareness Week, we wanted to champion the importance of maintaining your mental health and wellbeing, and talk about we’re doing to support our team as much as we can.
M&M meetings
No, this isn’t simply a group of us sitting around tucking into family-sized bags of the chocolate and peanut sweets…as appealing as that sounds! Once a quarter, we block out time in our diaries to meet and chat mental health. It’s completely voluntary, so no-one is forced to attend, but it’s a chance for us to discuss things like dealing with vulnerable clients, coping in stressful situations and how to improve our own work/life balance.
In the ‘always on’ culture that we all now live in, taking some time out to step back and share experiences, tips and advice is really important for both our and our clients’ benefit.
Monthly wellness check
Sometimes you just need a cuppa and a chance to offload, don’t you? That’s why, every month, each member of our team has a one-to-one with our director, Jessica, to chat through workload and any concerns they may have with individual cases or tasks, as well as any outside factors that may be impacting their work life.
It’s also a chance to monitor stress levels within the team and discuss ways to cope with stress and turning it into a positive. A level of pressure to complete projects or meet deadlines can be healthy but it’s important that we don’t let it become an unbearably stressful situation.
It’s nice to be nice!
Here at CEL, we pride ourselves on putting people before profits. So, that’s why every employee signs a ‘Kindness Contract’ upon joining us, pledging their commitment to a series of promises during their time with us. It’s also a way for management to commit to looking after staff and providing a happy and safe working environment.
From ensuring that they help make CEL a happy, healthy place to work to helping colleagues (and yourself!) maintain a work/life balance, it’s an excellent way to introduce new members of the team to our culture and values.
For more information on mental health in the workplace, visit: https://www.mind.org.uk/workplace/
