Communicating mental health in the workplace

This is a guest post by Doug Robb, Managing Director of Melbourne healthcare communications agency Communovate.

If this article had been written five years ago it may have been a very different story. Mental health simply wasn't on the radar. Talking about it in the workplace? Are you mad?

However, through the hard work and commitment of a number of organisations, mental health isn't just on the radar, it's well and truly in the hearts and minds of smart business leaders, Government bodies and most importantly, the community.

Why the change? Well, it's all about communication - to the people and between the people.

While some of you, particularly fans of Mad Men, think that the communication agencies sit around and dream up campaigns after a long boozy lunch, what actually happens is very different. Yes, we have lattes and macchiatos, but that's about it these days. It's a very disciplined process.

When you're addressing a complex issue, particularly one that 'just isn't spoken about' or requires a change in behaviour, the first step is to prepare the target audience for the optimal receipt of your message. Otherwise, it simply falls on deaf ears.

Cast your mind back a few years and imagine you saw an ad or brochure suggesting you turn to your friends, family and work colleagues and ask them “How’s your mental health?”

If they didn’t sprint from the room, call security, or at best, quickly change the subject to the weather or the impact of daylight saving on curtains, you’d be one of the lucky few.

Now cast your mind back to the 15th of September this year when you hopefully either participated in, or were at least aware of, R U OK? Day.

The difference now is that the community had been prepped and the right environment for delivery of that message now exists. People are now far more aware of the incidence and impact of mental health - the stigma about admitting issues is finally being slowly but steadily eroded.

So, Step No. 1 is to create the right environment for delivery of your mental health message.

What can you do?

While the focus of many programs has quite rightly been on depression, smart business leaders will start to look at programs addressing issues such as stress and anxiety. Alleviating stress or anxiety in the workplace, which overflows to private lives, makes for happier and more productive employees – everyone’s a winner. So in this example, the flow would be:

Step 1:

Create the environment for your message. For example, in the case of stress, establish the damage it can do to the body, to relationships and to personal and work performance, while outlining the many benefits of controlling that stress.

Step 2:

Deliver the message – appropriately. This is where the communication skills come to the fore. In message communication we often talk about tone and manner. So empathy wins over insensitivity and respect wins over condescension.  People will also see through 'lip service' or token statements. And from a design point of view, choosing the right layout, colours and type is equally important.

Step 3:

Monitor the progress. There are lots of online tools/questionnaires for measuring stress and other mental health issues.

Above all, from the very beginning of the process, make sure you have a clear objective. Know what you’re looking to achieve and make sure you’ve created the right physical environment (yes, again) for your call to action to be implemented.

For example, if your objective is to get people communicating with each other about a specific issue, you have to present the opportunity to do so with organised events, locations and the appropriate tools and support.

Even the most conservative organisations seem to be embracing the importance of mental health, inviting counselors to run onsite and offsite workshops. Join in! The results might surprise you.

This is part one of a two part series. Stay tuned for part two: Communicating and managing mindfulness and meditation for a happy workforce.

Doug Robb is the Managing Director of Communovate, a healthcare communications agency based in Melbourne. Communovate has been involved in the development and management of a number of successful support programs from nutrition to multiple sclerosis and many things in between. Doug has had over 30 years experience in healthcare communication and has a special interest in encouraging and promoting mental wellness.