Field experts [1] have concluded that strong, effective workplace mental health and safety outcomes can be achieved through strategies and actions that incorporate all the following aspects:
- Prevent harm – eliminate or mitigate work-related factors or hazards that cause psychological harm.
- Manage concerns – address workplace psychological and safety concerns and ensure that employees get the care they need, regardless of cause.
- Promote the Positive – develop work and individual related strengths, capacities, and positive aspects to promote wellness and productivity.
As such, actively fostering mental wellness and safety in the workplace as well as making early intervention/support readily accessible by employees who may be experiencing mental health strain is essential to their ability to remain resilient, productive, and well.
Multiple elements need to be taken into account when developing a strategy and framework that would effectively foster employee mental wellness and safety. The planning, development, implementation, and continuous application of such strategy and framework will take time, resources, and full leadership commitment. If your organization is not yet ready to proceed with a comprehensive plan, it can start by implementing some core provisions to help all levels of employees recognize and manage the risks, hazards, triggers and symptoms of mental health cand safety concerns. Your organization can increase its efforts over time to build a more comprehensive plan.
Types of core provisions offered by Insight include:
Insight can provide mental wellness, safety, and injury prevention training to employees as well as management personnel. The aim is to help managers and employees:
- Increase awareness and understanding of mental wellness in the workplace.
- Recognize actors and hazards that contribute to poor mental health and safety in the workplace, and actions/strategies to respond when issues arise.
- Recognize common mental health problems/illnesses and warning signs of a struggling employee or co-worker.
- Consider and apply effective actions/strategies to support a struggling employee or co-worker until they get professional help.
- Demonstrate behaviours that support and promote employee mental wellness and safety.
Employee Training
Depending on the topic and content to be covered, mental wellness, safety, and injury prevention training for employees can be one-hour (lunch-and-learn), half-day, full-day, or two-days long. Customized duration is also possible for some training. Topics in demand include the following. Our trainers can also provide training on other tailored topics.
Management Training
As leaders shape the culture and direction of the organization, their competency, commitment, and involvement in any workplace mental health strategies and plans are a must in order for the strategies and plans to work. Research and experts have also noted that in order for management training to be truly effective, it must be mandatory, offered regularly, and championed by senior leadership.
Like training for employees, training for management personnel can be one-hour (lunch-and-learn), half-day, full-day, or two-days long. Customized duration is also possible for some training. Topics in demand include the following. Our trainers can also provide training on other tailored topics.
Contact Insight Psychological today to learn more.
MyPsychPulseTM, a premium multi-issue mental health and work stress scan developed by Insight to scan for the following concerns among all levels of employees:
- Helps your organization to determine the collective mental health and work stress condition of your employees as well as key mental health areas of concern, so that your organization can apply targeted strategies and solutions to effectively address risks/concerns identified and build a healthy, safe, and productive work environment.
- Helps individual employees to gain a better understanding of their current mental health and work stress condition so that they can seek further assessment and/or support where applicable, in order to stay healthy and productive.
Click HERE for samples of the individual and corporate scan reports and more details on the scan.
Contact Insight Psychological today to learn more.
EFAP Core
Insight can assist organizations with 1000 or more employees in the development and delivery of a practical Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP) that focuses on the essential services that employees need (medical consults, mental health care, and prescription service). Most of Insight’s EFAP will also come with value-added features such as our user engagement app, MyPsychPulse premium mental health and work stress scan, and MyPsychOwl comprehensive digital mental health resource library.
EFAP Supplement and Other Workplace Mental Health Programs
For organizations that would like to add/have other specific workplace mental health services or for organizations that already has an EFAP but need some important supplement programs such as the following, Insight can tailor/add such programs for the organizations.
Click on each of the following links for a more detailed description of each program:
- Specialized Counselling and Treatments for Complex/Severe Cases
- Fit/Return-to-Work Assessment for Mental Illness/Injury and Alcohol/Substance Dependency
- Cognitive Impairment, Deterioration, and Injury Rehabilitation
- Management Assistance Program
- EMBARK New Hire Mentoring and Mental Fitness Program
- Job Loss and Outplacement Support
- Group Support for Conflicts, Life Transitions & Mental Health Issues
- Specialized Assessment Services
Contact Insight Psychological today to learn more.
PsychOwl is comprehensive mental health resource library established by Insight. It houses different sub-libraries and thousands of resources in a broad range of mental health areas which:
- Organizational leaders, decision makers, and trainers can access for employee training as well as for the development of mental health strategies, framework, programs, and processes.
- Employees can access for learning and understanding of mental health issues and symptoms, options for treatment and care, self-care strategies, relationship issues, parenting issues and solutions, children and youth mental health issues and care, and much, much more.
Click HERE to access the digital library site for more details.
Contact Insight Psychological today to learn more.
Many managers may find it intimidating, conflicting, and highly uncomfortable when faced with the expectation to play multiple roles (active listener, supporter, advisor, supervisor, investigator, and more) in the handling of mental health and safety and/or substance dependency issues/cases. The risk of unintentionally 1) crossing over from a supportive listener to an unqualified counsellor, 2) violating employees’ employment and human rights, and/or 3) simply not knowing how to best help the employees in need, can have serious implications for both the employees and the organization.
For reasons above, managers may need the support and assistance of a trained therapist, workplace mental wellness specialist, certified workplace investigator, and/or experienced case manager when dealing with employee mental health and safety and/or substance dependency issues/cases.
Insight’s Management Assistance Program (MAP-4C) is flexible, multi-pronged program designed to allow managers to access the following support and assistance whenever they are in need:
Click on each of the following links for a more detailed description of each program:
- Management Self Care
- Management Coaching and Training
- Mental Health & Substance Issue/Case Management Support
- Harassment/Bullying Case Investigation and Resolution
- Fit/Return-to-Work Assessment for Mental Health Injury and Alcohol/Substance Dependency
Contact Insight Psychological today to learn more.
Being pro-active in preventing and managing mental health and safety issues in the workplace does not only mitigate negative consequences such as employee absenteeism/presenteeism, performance/productivity deterioration, number and duration of disability leaves, and financial loss. More importantly, it creates an environment that promotes positive outcomes, such as higher employee retention, engagement, innovation, and sustained productivity. Bell reported their 2018 ROI of $4.10 for every dollar they invested in workplace mental health programs – this included a 50% drop in disability relapse and reoccurrence within 8 years
Contact Insight Psychological today to learn more and get started.
[1] LaMontagne, A.D., Martin, A., Page, K.M., Reavley, N.J., Noblet, A.J., Milner, A.J., Keegel, T. & Smith, P.M. (2014). Workplace mental health: Developing an integrated intervention approach, BMC Psychiatry 14. Retrieved from: https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-244X-14-131
