World Mental Health Day
October 10th 2019
In the UK, four out of five employees who have experienced poor mental wellbeing report that this has impacted their work. UK employees take, on average, four days off a year for mental health reasons. More than half of employees who have taken a mental health day claimed a physical malady rather than giving the real reason. And more than one fifth of those same employees report having left a job due to work pressure and the negative impact it had on their mental health.
October 10 is World Mental Health Day. This day has been observed since 1992 with the aim of raising awareness of mental health issues around the world and mobilising efforts in support of mental health. Mental health deserves serious attention and consideration. Unfortunately, it is often the case that work adds undue strain on employees’ mental health - an abundance of deadlines, heavy workload, long hours and money worries all contribute to an undesirable state of mental wellbeing. Make sure to observe this year’s World Mental Health Day and pursue measures to feel mentally excellent in the workplace.
Mental Health Foundation - World Mental Health Day
Wellbeing at Work
Courage in the workplace
Employee behaviour and company culture are closely intertwined. Culture provides the setting in which workers behave and can limit or encourage acts of various types. An often overlooked quality in a workplace setting is courage: courage to speak up, to act with autonomy, or to address unethical or illegal behaviour.
Professors from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business have developed the Workplace Courage Acts Index (WCAI), which shows that difficult conversations and other matters that require employees to speak up are infrequent. This hurts organisations in the long-term, in part, because this behaviour is required to allow organisations to function at their best, and also because employees who don’t feel empowered to speak up miss out on an important aspect of workplace wellbeing.
The 35 behaviours on the Darden index are those that people across many environments tend to call courageous. The research addresses courage across levels of seniority and shows that, perhaps surprisingly, courageous behaviour doesn’t become easier merely by virtue of a higher position in an organisation. Whether you’re running the show or are just cutting your teeth, almost all the behaviours on the index required the same amount of courage or occurred with the same frequency. The only exceptions to this uniformity are owning responsibility for a novel idea and providing support and help to subordinates - both of which occur more frequently among those with higher positions.
Leadership behaviours such as taking responsibility for subordinates’ or peers’ mistakes and confronting peers on inappropriate interpersonal behaviour both happen less than half the time opportunities are presented. Leaders recognise that creating a positive workplace environment is good for the wellbeing of workers and is good for productivity. However, the Darden research shows that even in environments reported as being high in “psychological safety”, it takes a significant amount of courage to do things like speak up or stand up to one’s boss about his or her unethical or even illegal behaviour.
Darden Insights: Courage in the Workplace
Healthy Eating
Fruit and Vegetables - More Matters
Most adults in the UK don’t eat the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables per day. The Health Survey for England found that only 29% of adults were getting their 5-a-day, with a mean average of 3.8 portions a day. Following on from Fruit and Veggies - More Matters Month, take these steps and make a particular effort to increase the amount of healthy greens you eat. Here are some simple ways to up your intake of healthy produce:
- Eat some meals you’ve never had but always wanted to try.
- Replace your lunchtime crisps with crisp carrots.
- Choose the vegetarian option when given the choice.
- Remember to bring a fresh apple or two or some cold grapes into work with you.
Your body will reward you for the boost in nutrient-rich foods with increased vitality and reduced risk of blood and heart disease. And your colleagues will appreciate your fortified immune system heading into cold season. You are what you eat, so eat well at work to be well at work.
Welbot Product Update
Welbot 2.0 is here!
After months of working closely with our customers and partners alike, we have completely reworked our Wellbeing at Work platform and it’s now ready for you to try. You can request your free trial here: Free 14 Day Trial.
As well as our free product trial we are now offering customers a free on-demand demo service too. If you would like us to walk you and your colleagues through the product features, and what we have pipleined for future releases, then we can set up a remote video call for you.
You can book your personal demo here: Welbot Online Demo
