The National Workplace Initiative (NWI) is led by the National Mental Health Commission in collaboration with the Mentally Healthy Workplace Alliance, a group of national organisations representing business, union, mental health, workplace health and government sectors.
The NWI supports organisations and businesses with information to help identify and manage work-related risks to mental health, respond when people are experiencing mental ill health, and create workplaces that are good for mental health.
Ellis Jones has been working with the NWI for the past three years on a range of projects.
Most recently our research, communications and design consultants have been assisting in the development of guides to assist organisations and businesses addressing workplace mental health.
Blueprint for Mentally Healthy Workplaces.
The Blueprint for Mentally Healthy Workplaces defines a vision of mentally healthy workplaces that can be shared by all organisations and businesses across Australia. It also defines the core principles and focus areas for creating environments that protect, respond, and promote to support mental health at work.
It is a great place to start when considering mental health in your organisation.
Measuring Mentally Healthy Workplaces.
The Measuring Mentally Healthy Workplaces guides outline how organisations of all sizes can use measurement to help create a mentally healthy workplace.
The guides support organisations to:
- Identify areas for improvement
- Create a plan with a team
- Select and interpret data
- Communicate results
Industry initiatives supporting mentally healthy workplaces.
The NWI has established a series on industry initiatives supporting mentally healthy workplaces. It showcases current industry-level approaches and provides a practical guide for setting up industry-led initiatives.
This series currently includes:
- Creating a collaborative: How to build an industry-led initiative
- Stories from the field: Case studies of pioneering industry action
- Industry-led initiatives: Plan on a Page tool
Mentally Healthy Workplaces and COVID-19.
The Mentally Healthy Workplaces and COVID-19: Emerging Issues series provides organisations with expert insights and tips to address key challenges impacting workplace mental health. The guides also connect organisations to further sources of guidance and support.
The series includes:
- Helping people return to workplaces after extended periods working at home during COVID-19
- Strategies to support wellbeing of decision makers through periods of sustained pressure
- Identifying and managing fatigue and burnout during COVID-19
- The hidden impact of COVID-19 and sleep
- Creating mentally healthy hybrid teams in the recovery from COVID-19
- Responding to varied COVID-19 concerns in the workplace
- Supporting people experiencing post-COVID-19 syndrome
- Small business owners and managers overview
- Mental Health Supports
Keep a look out for the NWI digital platform which will launch soon. Also, expect more guides to help you protect workers, respond to mental health issues, and promote good mental health.
Mentally healthy work is one of Ellis Jones’ four challenge areas – issues that affect every organisation, as well as the places and communities in which they operate. Workplace mental health should be part of ESG reporting, and represents an opportunity to create social and financial value for companies.
