Mental Health Training at Fairfields

Following the recent World Mental Health Day last week, a representative from Mind, the charity for better mental health, was invited to Head Office to deliver training on ‘Managing Mental Health at Work’. A number of employees attended who are responsible for managing staff or for staff well-being from both Fairfield Control Systems and Fairfield Engineering Solutions. The aim of the course was to learn how to recognise when a staff member is struggling with their mental health and how they can be supported professionally. The range of topics covered included:

The different models of mental health
How mental illnesses are diagnosed
The causes, signs and symptoms and treatment and support options that relate to stress, anxiety and depression
What organisations are expected to do for employees who are stressed, anxious or depressed
What individuals who are expected to do for themselves
What to do when this doesn’t work and the problem worsens
Appropriate language and topics for 1:1 meetings with staff who are struggling

Although some of the content was about difficult subjects, it was delivered in an easy to digest way with plenty of opportunity for discussion and demonstrated that starting conversations about mental health needn’t be difficult. Mind research has shown that a culture of fear and silence around mental health is costly to employers:

More than one in five employees (21%) agreed that they had called in sick to avoid work when asked how workplace stress had affected them
14% agreed that they had resigned and 42% per cent had considered resigning when asked how workplace stress had affected them
30% of staff disagreed with the statement ‘I would feel able to talk openly with my line manager if I was feeling stressed’
56% per cent of employers said they would like to do more to improve staff well-being but don’t feel they have the right training or guidance

After the training session, Business Administration Manager, Katherine Finn, said:

“Starting conversations with staff about their mental health and well-being has always felt a bit tricky as it’s a very sensitive and personal subject. After this session I feel better equipped to have more open dialogue, have a much better understanding of the complexities of mental health and now realise that it doesn’t need to be so difficult. I hope we can go on to be a much more open organisation around the subject of mental health and staff will feel more willing to talk and we, as managers, are much better informed and in a position to help.”

For more information on Mental Health in the workplace or for more resources, visit: Mind