Mental Health Awareness at Work
Practical workplace mental health awareness training helping managers and staff recognise concerns, have supportive conversations, reduce stigma and create healthier workplaces.
Practical workplace mental health awareness training helping managers and staff recognise concerns, have supportive conversations, reduce stigma and create healthier workplaces.
Mental health affects every workplace. Knowing how to recognise concerns, start an appropriate conversation and respond supportively can make a significant difference to employees and organisations.
This practical in-house course builds confidence and understanding without expecting managers or colleagues to become mental-health professionals.
Delegates explore mental health and mental ill-health, stigma, workplace pressures, supportive conversations, reasonable adjustments and practical ways organisations can create healthier and more inclusive working environments.
Managers and colleagues are not expected to diagnose mental-health conditions. Their role is to recognise when somebody may be struggling, respond appropriately, understand the limits of their responsibility and help people access appropriate workplace or professional support.
In‑house courses are private sessions delivered exclusively for a group of people from your organisation, on a date that suits you, with the option to tailor the content to your staff and setting.
Open courses are public Equality and Diversity UK training dates that anyone can book onto, ideal when you only need training for one or two people.
Everyone has mental health, and it can change throughout life in response to personal circumstances, relationships, physical health, work, financial pressures and many other factors.
Mental ill-health can affect mood, thinking, concentration, confidence, relationships, behaviour and people's ability to manage everyday demands.
The course provides accessible awareness of mental-health difficulties while avoiding stereotypes or assumptions about how a particular condition should look.
Work can have both positive and negative effects on mental health.
Supportive relationships, meaningful work, clear expectations and appropriate flexibility can contribute positively to wellbeing. Excessive workloads, bullying, harassment, discrimination, poor communication, uncertainty and lack of support can increase pressure.
The course helps delegates consider both individual support and the wider working environment.
This course can be tailored for employees at all levels and is particularly useful for managers, supervisors, team leaders, HR and People professionals and employees with responsibility for workplace wellbeing.
Because this is our own in-house programme, the content and scenarios can be adapted to your organisation, workforce and the responsibilities of the delegates attending.
There is no single sign that proves somebody is experiencing mental ill-health.
Possible changes might involve attendance, behaviour, mood, communication, concentration, relationships, performance, confidence or withdrawal from usual activities.
The important skill is noticing meaningful changes and knowing how to respond without attempting to diagnose the person.
Recognise changes without jumping to conclusions about what they mean.
Create an appropriate opportunity for a supportive and respectful conversation.
Explore appropriate workplace support, adjustments or professional help while maintaining clear boundaries.
Managers and colleagues sometimes avoid mental-health conversations because they fear saying the wrong thing.
Delegates explore how to raise concerns sensitively, use open questions, listen without judgement and avoid taking responsibility for problems beyond their role.
Supportive conversations should focus on the person's experience and what may help rather than trying to identify a diagnosis.
Stigma can discourage people from discussing mental health or seeking support.
Assumptions that somebody experiencing mental ill-health will be unreliable, incapable, dangerous or unable to cope can contribute to exclusion and discrimination.
The course helps delegates challenge stereotypes while recognising that mental-health experiences vary considerably between individuals.
Mental health does not exist separately from people's wider lives and identities.
Experience can be influenced by disability, race, sex, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, socioeconomic circumstances, caring responsibilities and other aspects of identity and life experience.
An inclusive approach avoids assuming that everybody experiences mental health, workplace pressures or access to support in the same way.
Some mental-health conditions may meet the Equality Act 2010 definition of disability.
Where the legal requirements are met, employers have a duty to make reasonable adjustments to remove or reduce substantial disadvantages experienced by disabled employees.
The course helps managers understand the principle of reasonable adjustments while recognising that appropriate adjustments depend on the individual, the disadvantage experienced and the circumstances of the workplace.
Depending on individual circumstances, possible adjustments might involve working arrangements, communication, workload management, the working environment, time off for treatment or changes to particular processes.
Managers should follow appropriate organisational procedures and involve HR, occupational health or other relevant support where necessary.
Supporting an employee experiencing mental ill-health does not mean ignoring legitimate performance or conduct expectations. Inclusive management means understanding whether a workplace barrier, health issue or need for reasonable adjustment should be considered alongside appropriate management action.
Mental-health awareness should not focus exclusively on teaching individuals to become more resilient.
Organisations should also consider factors such as workload, job design, management behaviour, communication, bullying, harassment, discrimination and organisational change.
Delegates explore what individuals can do to support wellbeing alongside what organisations can do to create healthier working environments.
Delegates consider how to remain calm, listen appropriately and help somebody identify suitable support when they are experiencing significant distress.
The course also reinforces professional boundaries. Workplace mental-health awareness does not qualify delegates to provide therapy, counselling, diagnosis or medical advice.
Where there is an immediate concern about somebody's safety, delegates should follow organisational procedures and seek appropriate professional or emergency assistance.
Returning after a period of mental ill-health can require thoughtful management.
Clear communication, appropriate planning, review of workload and consideration of reasonable adjustments can help an employee return successfully.
Managers should avoid assuming either that somebody is fully recovered because they have returned or that they are no longer capable of performing effectively because they have experienced mental ill-health.
Effective mental-health practice involves more than responding when somebody reaches crisis point.
Organisations can encourage earlier conversations by developing supportive management, clear policies, appropriate routes to assistance and a culture where people can raise concerns without unnecessary stigma.
A previously reliable employee begins missing deadlines and appears withdrawn.
Discussion: How can a manager raise the issue without diagnosing or making assumptions?
An employee tells their manager they are experiencing significant mental-health difficulties.
Discussion: What should the manager ask, what support might be considered and where are the boundaries?
A colleague returns after a period of mental-health-related absence and is struggling with workload.
Discussion: What should be explored before deciding how to respond?
By the end of the course, delegates should be better able to:
Unlike a prescribed accredited programme, this in-house course can be adapted to your organisation's needs.
We can tailor scenarios and discussion to managers, general employees, HR teams or particular workplace environments and incorporate relevant organisational policies and support routes where appropriate.
All our courses are tailored to ensure the training reflects your organisation's goals, workplace practices and priorities.
The course can be delivered face-to-face or online via Zoom or Teams.
To support participation, discussion and interaction, we recommend the following group sizes per session:
Need to train a larger workforce? No problem. We regularly work with organisations that need to train larger numbers of employees. Where appropriate, training can be delivered across multiple sessions to ensure everyone receives the same high-quality, interactive learning experience. We can develop a delivery programme to suit your workforce size, locations and timescales.
Please note: the half-day rate is not always available for face-to-face sessions.
Over 25 years' experience delivering equality, diversity and inclusion training, consultancy and professional development.
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