The theme for this year’s ‘World Mental Health Day’ is ‘It Is Time to Prioritise Mental Health in the Workplace’, underscoring the critical importance of mental health in professional settings.
The campaign is dedicated to advocating for mental health within the workplace, with the aim to highlight the essential role of mental health in professional environments, advocating for workplaces where mental health is prioritised, protected, and promoted.
Here at Open Awards, we work hard to ensure that the mental health and wellbeing of our staff is at the forefront of conversation across the organisation, and one way we promote this is through our Health and Wellbeing Group.
Led by Open Awards employees, the Health and Wellbeing Group actively ensure mental health discussions take place, whether this is through our annual staff wellbeing survey, or through our monthly Health and Wellbeing newsletter. Below, a few of our Health and Wellbeing Group members share their thoughts on the importance of an open dialogue about mental health in the workplace
Anita Till – Director of Finance
The Health & Wellbeing Group brings members of different teams across the organisation together. We brainstorm ideas and initiatives to try and support employees with their health and wellbeing and raise awareness. It’s great to have a mix of staff contributing as remote workers may have different experiences to office-based staff, for example. I’d like to think we prioritise mental health not just on World Mental Health Day but every day.
Anthony Hasell-Sims – Assessment Standards and Validation Manager
Being a member of the Health and Wellbeing group enables me to communicate ideas from my colleagues, as to how we can improve the health and mental health issues people face on a day-to-day basis. A newsletter is produced monthly by which we can communicate our ideas to all staff across the organisation. This includes interesting facts, real life experiences of what people achieve inside and outside of work, and various recipes aimed to improve overall health.
Mental health is a priority and we ensure when we meet, that we discuss issues raised by ourselves and colleagues and put actions in place to help people cope with everyday life.
Sam Belk – Quality and Standards Advisor
Open Awards cares about staffs’ mental wellbeing and it is a privilege to be part of the Health and Wellbeing group. It gives the group the opportunity to discuss ways of supporting mental health and ensures that the subject of mental health in the workplace is never off the agenda. The newsletter is a great way to share ideas, tips and recipes and the opportunity for staff to share their hobbies and interests. Completing my own qualification for mental health in the workplace has given me a greater understanding of how important mental health is to support a happy and productive team at work.
Whilst we recognise there is always more we can do to support the ongoing mental health and wellbeing of our staff, it is clear that Open Awards has made great strides in ensuring mental health is never off the agenda. Let’s keep the conversation going!