Your how-to: Standardising role-specific mental health training across your organisation
Standardising role-specific mental health training across your organisation refers to the process of developing and implementing a unified approach to mental health training that is appropriately tailored to the different roles within your business. This method ensures everyone in the organisation, regardless of their position, has a comprehensive understanding of mental health issues and knows the correct procedures for handling them.
The training should be designed considering key aspects of each role. The idea is that an executive might face different stressors and challenges compared to someone in an entry-level position, or someone in one department may experience a different work environment than someone in another department. By having role-specific mental health training in place, employees receive relevant, reachable strategies for managing their mental wellbeing.
In an Australian context, it is essential that this training adheres to local guidelines and norms. The training should be compliant with Australian workplace laws and health and safety standards. It may involve referencing the Safe Work Australia guidelines for promoting better mental health at work or the National Mental Health Commission's Workplace Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy.
Integrating such a scheme better aligns with a preventative approach to addressing psychosocial hazards than a broader organisation wide scheme.
Step by step instructions
Analyse Job Roles and Understand Mental Health Impacts: Begin by gaining a complete understanding of each job role in your organisation. Analyse the different stressors, challenges, and workplace conditions that each role might face, which in turn, could potentially impact their mental health.
Check Local Guidelines and Norms: It is crucial to understand the local guidelines and norms related to role-specific mental health training. Incorporate the National Mental Health Commission's Workplace Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy into your training plan.
Make Training Accessible and Compulsory for All: Once the training materials are created, make them accessible across the organisation. It should be compulsory for each employee to attend these role-specific mental health trainings regardless of their position in the organisation.
Update Training Materials as Needed: The mental health landscape can change over time. Regularly review, and if necessary, update your training materials to keep them current and effective.
Understand Workplace Laws and Health and Safety Standards: Familiarise yourself with Australian workplace laws and health and safety standards related to mental health. Be aware of the guidelines published by Safe Work Australia. This ensures that your company's approach to mental health training is compliant with the relevant standards.
Develop Role-Specific Mental Health Training Programs: With the knowledge of job roles, stressors and guidelines, design tailored mental health training programs. These programs should directly address the potential mental health issues relevant to each role and provide appropriate strategies to manage these.
Implement Regular Mental Health Checks: Post-training, implement periodic mental health checks to ensure that the strategies learnt are being applied and are effective. This will also help in identifying any potential gaps in the training materials provided.
Align with The Australian Human Rights Commission’s viewpoint: Aligning your scheme with the Australian Human Rights Commission’s insistence on addressing mental health in workplaces will reflect positively on your company's responsibility and care for its employees.
Use this template to implement
To ensure you can execute seamlessly, download the implementation template.
Pitfalls to avoid
Each role within your organisation carries different stressors and mental health challenges. Standardising your mental health training without accounting for this variety can prove ineffective. Carefully consider the unique attributes of each role and encompass them into your training.
A multicultural business embodies a diversity of experiences and backgrounds. Insensitivity towards different cultural approaches to mental health can potentially alienate staff members. Mental health training must be culturally sensitive and inclusive to account for the workforce's diversity.
Mental health is a dynamic field, consistently updated with new research and understanding. Failing to regularly revise and update your mental health training program may result in outdated information being circulated among your employees.
In the context of Australia, understanding mental health regulations becomes imperative. The Fair Work Act 2009 explains anti-discrimination policies and champions for the welfare of employees. Ignorance of such protective laws can lead to non-compliance-related litigation.
While technology can offer expediency, overreliance on online training alone may be less effective for role-specific mental health training. There needs to be a balance between in-person discussions and online resources for the most comprehensive training approach.
Implementing an in-house mental health training program requires adequate personnel with professional mental health training. A lack of such staff can lead to under-resourced and ineffective training programmes.