Welcome to episode 174. And one of the conversations I’ve been hearing more with business owners and leaders recently is how do we make our workplaces more mentally healthy? And for some, this is because they’re starting to consider their psychosocial obligations.
For others, it’s because with the rise of AI, their people are always feeling on. And for others, it’s just a continuation of a theme since COVID, where people don’t have the same boundaries that they used to between work and home. And one of the great initiatives we hear about every September is R U OK? Day.
We see organisations planning morning teas, people wear yellow. There’s a lot more discussion about checking in with another, which is a fabulous thing because anything that encourages us to stop for a moment and ask someone how they’re really doing has enormous value. And research from R U OK? tells us that nine out of 10 people who have been asked if they’re okay feel supported and cared about
afterwards. So it’s a great reminder that these conversations matter. But what I’d like to talk about today is what if we take that one step further from an individual to a workplace level and ask what actually makes a mentally healthy workplace?
Because, you know, most businesses don’t set out to create workplaces where people become stressed or overwhelmed or burnt out. And I would say that, you know, every business owner that I work with wants their people to enjoy coming to work. But we’re also seeing more conversations about stress, burnout and psychological injuries.
than ever before. So somewhere there’s a disconnect and there’s a gap. So I’d like to explore that with you today and not from a legal perspective and not from a clinical perspective. I’m not a lawyer, not a psychologist. I want to talk about it from the perspective of leadership because the biggest contributor
to a mentally healthy workplace isn’t a wellbeing programme, it is the leaders. And this is one of the risks with awareness days, whether it’s R U OK or any other really important campaign, that can accidentally make us feel like the job’s done. If we’re holding a morning tea, maybe we’re inviting a guest speaker, people are having really good conversations,
But then next week, everything just goes back to normal.
And if our normal is that the workload is unrealistic or managers aren’t checking in with their teams or people are unclear about priorities or conflict is bubbling away, then nothing has really changed. And this is not a criticism of these types of days. I think they’re incredibly valuable. but it’s an opportunity to use it as a starting point for a bigger conversation. Because asking someone if they’re okay is only the beginning. The real question is, what happens after they answer? So if someone says to you, actually, yeah, I’m really struggling at the moment, do you know what to do?
And if someone says that to you, would the employee feel safe enough to even be honest in the 1st place about what’s going on with them? And perhaps most importantly, would anything in the workplace actually change after that conversation? So what do we mean by mentally healthy workplaces? Because sometimes people hear it and they
immediately think about mental issues, counselling, employee assistance programmes, resilience training. But really, it’s much broader than that. It’s A workplace where the way work is designed, managed and led supports people’s wellbeing instead of making it harder.
And I said supports because life does happen. People will experience grief, illness, financial pressure, family challenges, and all sorts of things outside of work that we can’t control. But our role as employees, as leaders, as managers, isn’t to solve every challenge in someone’s life. It’s to make sure that work
isn’t unnecessarily adding to those challenges. Over the last few years, we’ve started hearing a lot more about psychosocial hazards, and it is one of those terms that sounds far more complicated than it really is. If you strip away the jargon, it’s really just asking one simple question. Is there something
about the way the work is organised, managed, or experienced that’s creating harm. You know, that’s all it is. And that can be things like unrealistic workloads, poor communication, lack of role clarity, constant change without explanation, bullying, conflict, or managers who only ever speak to their employees when something goes wrong.
because all of these things can impact on people’s psychological health. And the reason we’re hearing more about this is because it isn’t just best practise anymore. Under Australian WHS laws, businesses have a responsibility to identify and manage psychosocial hazards just as they would physical hazards. So
It’s moved from being a nice thing to think about to something leaders really genuinely need to understand. And this is a really great positive shift because it can change the conversation. So instead of asking, you know, how do we make people more resilient, we start asking, how do we create work that allows people
to succeed. And one of the things I love about working with small and medium sized businesses is that culture can be much easier to influence. You don’t need a wellbeing department or a huge budget or another committee. Culture is largely created by the conversations that managers have every day. And that’s something pretty easy.
to improve. Quite often, businesses have small rituals and symbols to show that they genuinely care about their people, celebrating birthdays, having social events, supporting someone who’s going through a difficult time. But somewhere along the way, as businesses grow, the work can grow faster than the systems. And so then people will start
carrying too much, managers become stretched, communication isn’t as clear as it used to be. And everyone might be still trying really hard and having really good intentions, but the environment itself is becoming harder to work in. And I remember one business that had a huge growth really quickly and the founders were ecstatic about the growth, but then
Within six months, key people started leaving. And so they actually had to put the brakes on a little to give everyone a chance to breathe and get some processes and structure in place so that they could retain their people and keep the workplace healthy. Our clients are SMBs, so they don’t normally have formal wellbeing programmes, but the best workplaces
aren’t the ones with great wellbeing programmes, they’re the ones with fantastic leaders. And those leaders are managers who know their people, have regular one-on-one conversations, discuss workloads openly, and make sure priorities are clear. And maybe most importantly, when mistakes happen, they’re treated as learning opportunities rather than reasons to blame.
And it’s these types of cultures where people know they can ask for help. And sometimes when an employee is struggling, the manager will go, oh, you know, well, what support can we provide? And that’s great. And we want to be able to do that. You know, maybe they need flexibility or leave or to someone to listen. But there’s another question that we should always ask, which
is, is there anything about the way that we’re running the business or that we’re running the team that is making things harder? Because that’s where things like workload, unclear priorities, poor communication, lack of resources, you know, all come into the conversation. And it’s not about blaming the business or their manager, but it’s
recognising that these things have an influence. And if we as leaders have influence over those, we have an opportunity to improve them.
So if I ask your team, what is it like to work here? What would they say? Would they tell me that their manager checks in regularly, that they know what’s expected of them, that it’s safe to admit when they’ve made a mistake? Or would they say, you know, everyone’s really busy? So, you know, those everyday experiences shape culture far more.
than any wellbeing initiative ever will. So a simple question that as a leader or manager, you can ask others is, you know, what can I do to make your job easier? Sometimes the answer is simple and it can make a really big difference. And one thing that is also important if you’re asking that question is that
you’re actually not expected to have all the answers. You’re not expected to be able to do all the things that you’re asked, but it’s about having that conversation. You know, it’s about actually listening, creating a safe space to have these open discussions. And then you can help connect someone with the right support if it’s needed.
or start looking at, okay, well, how do we make some of those changes? So one thing I often say is managers avoiding these types of conversations because they’re worried about they’re going to say the wrong thing, that they feel like they need to have all the answers before they ask the question. But the opposite is actually true. You know, the skill isn’t knowing the answer. It is
creating the space for the conversation. And it’s knowing when the conversations get into issues that people might be having within their personal life, knowing where your role ends and where professional support begins. And that is why investing in manager development, or leadership development, is actually a really great wellbeing initiative. And I’ve talked about this in much more detail in another episode where I discussed recognising changes in employee behaviour and how to approach those conversations. So I’m not going to repeat that. But
One thing I encourage leaders is to look for change. You know, not whether someone’s naturally quiet or outgoing, but when their behaviour changes, so someone who normally contributes goes quiet, or someone who’s normally organised starts missing g deadlines, someone who’s normally positive becomes withdrawn. Those changes don’t automatically mean that someone is struggling, but they’re worth being curious about.
Another leadership habit worth mentioning is to therefore be curious and don’t assume, you know, what’s going on or jump to conclusions. You know, sometimes it’s just asking, you know, I’ve noticed you’re not quite yourself lately. How are things going? Sometimes it’s work, sometimes it isn’t. But either way, you’ve opened up
that opportunity to understand. And this is also where HR can play a really valuable role, particularly in small businesses where managers haven’t dealt with these situations before and are a little bit uncomfortable. HR is not there to replace the manager, but they can help to coach the manager and help them prepare for that conversation.
And part of that might be thinking about appropriate adjustments, making sure privacy is respected, and thinking about what support the business can provide. There are also times when it’s appropriate to bring in additional support. And if you don’t have internal HR, that could be your HR consultant, it could be an employee assistance programme.
It might be encouraging someone to speak to their GP. The important thing is recognising when the situation is beyond your expertise, because as leaders we shouldn’t be thinking that we have to carry all this on our own.
So where do you start? If all of this feels a little overwhelming, don’t worry, you don’t need to transform your culture overnight. You can just start by asking a few questions. Do our managers know how to have genuine conversations with their team? Are our workloads realistic? Do people understand what’s expected of them?
Can someone safely raise a concern? And if people are giving us feedback, do we actually do something with this?
And maybe the biggest question of all is, if someone wasn’t okay, would they tell us? Because that’s one of the best indicators of whether you’ve created a mentally healthy workplace.
So as we move into R U OK Day this year, I’d encourage you to not think of it as a single event, but as a reminder that every small action you take as a leader contributes to the kind of workplace your people will experience every day. A mentally healthy workplace isn’t created by one conversation. It’s created by
hundreds of small moments. So this week, I’d love for you to ask yourself one question, which is, what’s the one thing that we could change that would make work just a little bit easier for our people? Because sometimes it’s those small improvements that make the biggest difference. Thank you so much for joining me. If you found today’s episode helpful, I’d appreciate it if you could leave a rating or a review over Apple Podcasts on Spotify so someone else could find the episodes to help with their business. As always, I’d love it if you have a question, feedback or a comment. Connect with me on LinkedIn or head on over to Amplify HR.com.au and we can start a conversation.