The Essential Guide to Developing Effective Workplace Mental Well-being Leaders & Ambassadors

This informal CPD article, ‘The Essential Guide to Developing Effective Workplace Mental Well-being Leaders and Ambassadors’, was provided by iGROW CorpHealth, partnering with Corporates to drive Employee Engagement through Holistic Health Solutions.

Introduction

In today's dynamic and demanding work environment, mental health has emerged as a critical factor influencing employee well-being, productivity, and overall organizational success. Investing in comprehensive mental health initiatives is not just a social responsibility but a strategic decision that yields tangible benefits for your company.

It’s a strategic Imperative for organizational success to empower HR professionals and Leaders with the knowledge, skills, and competencies to effectively address mental health concerns, foster a psychologically safe work environment, and cultivate a mentally healthy culture.

However, many companies do not know how to start or who to recruit. In this article, we have compiled our professional experience together with global best practices to provide you with all you need to know in identifying people that can partner you in improving workplace mental well-being. Note that the actual terms used to refer to these identified individuals may differ from organization to organization, but the spirit of what they do remains the same.

Workplace Mental Well-being Leaders at Work (WMWL)

Workplace Mental Well-being Leaders lead and drive proactive mental health initiatives, champion mental health policies and practices, implement and evaluate mental health interventions, foster a psychologically safe and mentally healthy workplace culture.

They are responsible for:

1. Driving Mental Health Initiatives: Leaders develop and implement comprehensive mental health programs, tailored to the specific needs of the workforce.

2. Championing Mental Health Policies: They advocate for policies and practices that foster a psychologically safe and supportive work environment.

3. Evaluating Interventions: Leaders assess the effectiveness of mental health programs, ensuring they are producing positive outcomes.

4. Building a Mentally Healthy Culture: They cultivate a workplace culture that prioritizes mental health, encouraging open communication, empathy, and support.

It is important to note that while Workplace Mental Well-being Leaders will need training and guidance to properly support colleagues in distress, they are not experts and should not be expected to provide counseling and give medical advice.

Recruiting Workplace Mental Well-being Leaders

Being a Workplace Mental Well-being Leader is hardly an easy task. As such, instead of assigning this role to people, it is a much better alternative to seek out volunteers. But not just anyone can be a WMWL, either. Here is a quick checklist for you to recruit potential Well-being Leaders:

• Are you passionate about building a workplace culture where people feel psychologically safe?
• Can you dedicate additional time and resources for this role?
• Are you willing to work hand-in-hand with management and your team members to promote wellbeing campaigns and strategies?
• Will you be able to keep going through the role even if results take time to show?
• Are you in a good headspace and have your own support network?

Responsibilities of the Workplace Mental Well-being Leaders:

Among the responsibilities that WMWLs can expect are:

• Provide tips, advice, and resources to create a healthy work environment.
• Communicate with your colleagues and point them to the relevant services.
• Commit adequate flexibility to balance out Leader Duties as well as regular work responsibilities.
• Promote the company’s wellbeing campaigns and work hand-in-hand with the management regarding this.
• Supply information and resources that support mental and physical wellbeing.

WMWLs have been gaining popularity, and this is because of their immense positive impact on the workplace culture. Workplace mental well-being and psychological safety are issues that companies should work towards, and WMWLs can help spearhead efforts taken to realize a healthy work culture.

Peer Support

Peer support is generally defined as the help and support offered by people who have lived through a certain situation or experienced a mental health disorder to people who have lived through the same situation or experienced the same mental health disorder. An example of this is a person who has recovered or is recovering from depression offers support to a person going through depression.

Where clinical support offers help from a professional, the fundamental principle of peer support is that it is built upon shared personal experiences and empathy, which allow for a deeper connection between patient and peer counselor.

The Benefits of Peer Support

A greater perceived empathy and respect. Among the key benefits of peer support is that it offers a greater sense of empathy, respect, and equality between the whole group. This makes it easier to build trust and familiarity, and allows for a stronger therapeutic relationship.

Higher levels of efficacy, self-empowerment, and engagement. People lend huge value to the sense of belonging and experience of shared personal stories among other people with the same problems. Such social connectedness can be had by interacting with others who share similar hardships.

Building confidence and hope of healing. Simply interacting and talking with others who made the recovery - or are making the recovery - with the same problem another person has does wonders for confidence and giving hope. Counselors become role models who can give genuine empathy and personal empowerment.

Workplace Mental Well-being Ambassadors in the workplace

Workplace Mental Well-being Ambassadors (WMWA) serve as the frontline champions of mental health awareness and support within your organization. They play a pivotal role in:

1. Raising Awareness: Ambassadors foster open conversations about mental health, reducing stigma and encouraging employees to seek help when needed.

2. Providing Basic Support: They offer initial support and guidance to colleagues experiencing mental health concerns, connecting them with appropriate resources.

3. Building Connections: Ambassadors act as a bridge between employees and mental health services, ensuring individuals receive timely and effective support.

Recruiting Workplace Mental Well-being Ambassadors

WMWAs have a more intimate task and will often involve a lot of interaction with co-workers. As with WMWLs, it is better to look for volunteers than to force someone in the position.

Here are some questions to ask budding WMWAs:

• Are you passionate about building a workplace culture where people feel psychologically safe?
• Can you dedicate additional time and resources for this role?
• Are you willing to communicate, engage, and empower your colleagues?
• Have you recovered or are recovering from a mental health disorder?
• Are you willing to share personal experiences, give tips and advice, and connect with your co-workers?

Ideally, WMWAs have experienced a mental illness and have recovered or are recovering from it. This allows a greater sense of empathy and connection between peers. But this is not a strict requirement. Simply having someone in the same workplace - someone who understands the hardships and benefits from working in the same company - will have massive effects.

Peer support and clinical support go hand-in-hand in providing mental stability to people, and neither are meant to replace the other. But we cannot deny the fact that peer support presents massive benefits to everyone involved. Taking the time to train and develop WMWAs- essentially peer counsellors - will allow a huge leap forward to making the workplace psychologically safe.

In this time of uncertainty, training Well-being Leaders to take the lead and Well-being Ambassadors to connect with and support peers will surely yield positive results for all.

We hope this article was helpful. For more information from iGROW CorpHealth, please visit their CPD Member Directory page. Alternatively, you can go to the CPD Industry Hubs for more articles, courses and events relevant to your Continuing Professional Development requirements.