Millions of working days are lost each year due to mental health conditions. Time to Talk Day falls on 1 February 2024. This is an annual initiative to encourage positive discussions around mental health.
Workplaces can get involved and raise awareness of mental health support this month by taking advantage of a wide range of resources, posters and even quizzes all designed to get us talking about what can be a daunting and difficult subject.
Raising awareness of the impact of poor mental health and discussing it openly can help encourage people to reach out without fearing that they may be judged for doing so.
Perhaps your own workplace could use this opportunity to set up a Mental Health First Aider programme or put together an internal group or committee who can be tasked to improve the support available.
However you choose to encourage positive discussions around mental health in your organisation, with 1 in 4 people experiencing poor mental health each year, it could have a big impact on employee wellbeing. It may be that the support that is already in place is not well known throughout the organisation, and by simply raising awareness of employee assistance programmes or counselling services you will help people access the support they need.
Emma Starmer, senior employment law and HR advisor, Lester Aldridge