Workplace Mental Health Training

There is no question that the stress and pressures on employees continue to grow. Whether it’s dealing with internal or external customers face to face, over the phone or via digital (SMS, live chat etc) the past couple of years with COVID and remote work, in particular, have been tougher on everyone.

But it’s not just tough for our employees dealing with their own challenges, they also need to continually deal with customers, family members, friend and work colleagues who are also more stressed.

The cost of living crisis is alive and well and with many companies struggling to recruit, more often than not, there is an additional workload and a flow on effect of product delays, stock shortages etc. that lead to more frustrations for everyone.

And for employees working in contact centres or on the phones, with many of the simpler customer transactions now automated (when is the last time you rang the bank to check your balance?), they are facing increasingly difficult interactions with customers as typically customers only make contact after the person has already searched online for a quick and easy solution.

This also adds to the pressures – there are no ‘easy’ calls anymore, and each and every interaction requires concentration and the use of increasingly complicated systems.

Equipping your employees with the skills they need to succeed

As an employer, it’s your responsibility to equip your employees with the skills they need to succeed at their job – and by and large, most employers are pretty good at ensuring employees know how to operate equipment, understand the products and services, follow core processes and so on.

But when it comes to health and wellbeing, managing difficult customers or even general customer service, there is often an expectation that everyone should just “know what to do” which of course, they don’t.

But being confronted by an angry customer or facing the reality of having to deal with customer after customer no matter how rude they can be challenging for most people.

It’s also been well reported that many people are struggling with the isolation of working remotely. Being away from a support network, having the chats around the office cooler etc, the odd laugh etc is a difficult void to fill

So naturally, when employees aren’t equipped with the right skills to handle those situations, it can impact them in a variety of ways, from increased stress and frustration, sickness, tiredness etc., that can result in them lashing out at customers or colleagues, calling in sick, resigning etc. that is a poor result for both the employee and your business.

And with the difficulties in attracting and retaining staff harder than ever, a small investment in their mental health and wellbeing can make a massive difference!

Mental Health Workplace Statistics in Australia 

Whilst there has been some improved awareness of mental health in the workplace (and society in general), the statistics below sourced from Beyond Blue, KPMG, World Health Organisation and the Australian Government suggest a lot more needs to be done to support employees.

• Mental health problems are the third biggest health problem in Australia, after heart disease and cancer.
• Businesses receive an average return on investment of $2.30 for every $1 they invest in effective workplace mental health strategies, making investing in mental health a win-win situation for employers and employees.
• A total of 3.2 days per worker are lost each year through workplace stress.
• Stress-related workers’ compensation claims have doubled in recent years, costing over $10 billion each year.
• A survey of over 5000 workers indicated that 25% of workers took time off each year for stress-related reasons.
• In relation to psychological injury claims, work pressure accounts for around half of all claims and harassment and bullying for around a quarter of claims.
• Preliminary research shows that Australian businesses lose over $6.5 billion each year by failing to provide early intervention/treatment for employees with mental health conditions.
• Ninety-one per cent of employees believe mental health in the workplace is important. However, only 52 per cent of employees believe their workplace is mentally healthy.
• Almost fifty per cent of employees have left a workplace due to a poor mental health environment, while 60% of employees working in a mentally healthy workplace were more committed to their job.
• One in five Australians (21%) have taken time off work in the past 12 months because they felt stressed, anxious, depressed or mentally unhealthy.
• According to the World Health Organisation, 1 in 4 people in any one year, will experience emotional and mental distress such that if they were to see a clinician, they would be diagnosed with a mental illness

Who are these courses suitable for?

Whether your employees work in an office, a call centre (or contact centre as they are now called), a retail store, warehouses, cafes & restaurants or remotely at home, these courses are suitable!

Whilst each business sector and industry requires a range of different skills at our core, we are all human beings. Good health, stress management, resilience skills etc have been refined for decades and whilst we are all a little different, the skills we teach have all stood the test of time.

Mental Health and Wellbeing Courses

Given the nature of mental health and the nuances in each workplace, all our mental health and workplace wellbeing courses are only available for private bookings.

We can customise a course for you, or we have some ‘ready-made’ courses that you can learn more about by clicking on the links below.