Tomorrow is Time to Talk Day – a day to highlight and promote conversations around mental health.
If you haven’t prepared anything yet, this blog post will help you as I’ve included resources at the foot of this page where you can find out more. I’ve also collated some of the articles I’ve published, so you can learn what other organisations are doing.
I believe every day should include conversations about mental health. It should always be time to talk.
Tonight I had a mentoring call with one of my global clients, Erica Goodwin, from Arkansas, among the topics we discussed was mental health. We’ll be sharing our conversation soon as we recorded it.
I recently had the pleasure of spending the day with mental health at work expert Jo Hooper at the All Things IC Hub in London. We discussed many topics surrounding mental health, and will be running a Masterclass together on 4 June 2020 but something that particularly struck me was her idea around jobs.
When you’re looking for a job, what criteria do you filter by? Typically it’s location, salary, grade, experience. But what if you could filter by mentally healthy workplaces? Well, it turns out you can.
Jo is here to tell us more…
How do you find a job that won’t send you round the twist?
It’s good to talk about our mental health – crucial in fact.
But you know what’s better than talk? Action.
Talk —> Action
That’s what Mad and Sad Club is all about – helping people to understand mental health in the workplace, figure out what they can do about it and do that thing.
And that’s why I’m teaming up with the wonderful Rachel to help leaders take action on mental health in their organisations.
On 4 June 2020 we will hold a one day Mental Health Leadership Masterclass for a group of maximum six leaders who are ready to take action.
Leaders will leave the Masterclass with:
- A clear understanding of their role as an employer
- A template for a set of mental health guidelines that can be tailored for their organisation
- Resources to support employees back in the workplace
- An understanding of the reality of what it’s like to struggle with your mental health at work.
If this sounds like the sort of action you’d like to take, we’d love for you to join us. All the details can be found here.
Finding mentally healthy jobs
One of the things I hear a lot from people I work with in a mentoring capacity is that they worry about finding a new job.
The most common concerns or questions are:
- How do I bring up mental health in the interview process?
- Do I disclose that I have a mental health condition as part of the intake forms?
- Which are good companies to work for to help me manage my mental health?
- Is it better to work for a smaller company, or a bigger company? Which will be more supportive?
- How can I tell if a company cares about mental health?
A hugely helpful resource is the Mind Workplace Wellbeing Index. For a fee, Mind assesses organisations, provides advice to improve support and accredits those who meet their standards as a mentally healthy workplace.
Prospective employees can take a look at the winners of the Mind Workplace Wellbeing Awards and take a look at jobs in those companies, safe in the knowledge that they have an openly-stated commitment to mental health in the workplace and are taking action to improve.
Making job hunting easier
From April, I’ll be taking this one step further, launching Mad and Sad Jobs.
For the first time, jobseekers will be able to find mentally healthy jobs in one place. Only companies who have been assessed and accredited by the Mind Workplace Wellbeing Team will be accepted to advertise and 10% of all ad revenue will be donated to Mind.
Any company interested can contact me at jo@madandsadclub.co.uk and any job seekers looking for mentally healthy jobs, please do follow Mad and Sad Club on Instagram and Twitter for updates on all jobs as they go live from April.
Post author: Jo Hooper.
Thank you Jo, I think this is such a smart idea. I’ll be keeping an eye out and will let you know when Jo’s jobs board goes live, so in her words you can find a role that “won’t send you round the twist.”
How to create Time to Talk about mental health
Mental health problems affect one in four of us, yet too many people are made to feel isolated, ashamed and worthless because of this. Time to Talk Day on 6 February 2020 encourages everyone to be more open about mental health – to talk, to listen, to change lives.
We know that talking about mental health can feel awkward, but it doesn’t have to. This year, the theme centres on the popular game ‘Would you rather?’ to help break the ice and get the conversation flowing.
Resources to help you
See the Time to Talk Day website to discover lots of resources that you can access for free. You can also find them on Twitter @TimeToChange.
Would you rather talk about mental health in the kitchen over a cuppa, or while walking round the park?
It’s important to choose a place that feels safe and comfortable for everyone. Get more tips for Time to Talk Day: https://t.co/SYO0AKDdw4 #TimeToTalk pic.twitter.com/ZqXK2nfEcX
— Time to Change (@TimetoChange) February 4, 2020
Further reading about mental health via the All Things IC blog
- How to communicate World Mental Health Day 2019.
- How Scottish Natural Heritage focuses on mental wellbeing.
- Paws for thought – giving colleagues a voice on mental health at PDSA.
- Why we need to talk about mental health in Comms
- How to communicate Mental Health Awareness Week 2019
- The mental health epidemic facing the PR profession
- Strangers on a train – living with social anxiety, by Michael Cambell
- Why a University is offering mental health first aid
- How to understand and improve diversity – includes new PRCA guidelines
- How to stay mentally healthy if you work in comms
- What you need to know about mental wellbeing
- The challenges facing NHS communicators.
Thank you for stopping by
Rachel
First published on the All Things IC blog 5 February 2020.
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