Using mental health coaching to help small businesses: Fassa Digital Marketing 

Sydney-based Fassa Digital Marketing has 5 permanent staff. Owner Fabricio Masson started the company in October 2019, and despite the challenges of COVID-19 the next year, the company grew. Mr Masson wanted to ensure that while the business grew, he had processes to provide the best for his organisation, his team and himself.   

Mr Masson received an email promoting SafeWork NSW’s workplace mental health coaching and decided to try it. Through confidential, one-on-one sessions, a coach helps small business owners address issues or identify risks to mental health and gives practical tools and strategies to manage them.  

Mr Masson was paired with a coach from Transitioning Well, Anna Kijowska. Their first sessions mainly involved Ms Kijowska listening to Mr Masson so she could better understand his business's challenges. From there, they looked at job design: his role, what essential duties he should perform and what could be better managed by sharing responsibilities among his team.   

One of the most significant changes for Mr Masson involved understanding his job. “As a small business owner, you are inclined to take on everything, leading to stress, isolation, anxiety and exhaustion”, he said. Learning to delegate was invaluable for Mr Masson and his staff; they were more than happy to expand their responsibilities and were excited about moving into different business areas.   

“One of the best things about this program is that we're with people as they trial things. So, if it's working, they keep on doing it. If it's not working, we come together and reshape and change to address the issues.” Anna Kijowska, Transitioning Well  

Workplace mental health coaching is a flexible service where small business owners can discuss their needs with a coach and do what works for them. The frequency and length of the coaching sessions are flexible. Some people do more intense work at the beginning, allowing more space to implement changes and monitor their impact.  

Fostering wellbeing and prioritising mental health in the workplace is one way that small businesses can compete with multinational agencies. Companies like Mr Masson’s can attract talent and retain staff by creating a positive culture where workers feel valued and satisfied.  

Mr Masson said he felt more confident to implement new initiatives and policies knowing he was being guided by a highly trained expert. Since starting the coaching, Fassa Digital has switched to a more flexible work model, offering additional days off and trialling mental health and volunteer days.   

Mr Masson recognises listening to what your staff want is essential. He received overwhelmingly positive feedback from his workers and has even recommended the coaching program to clients who also run small businesses.   

Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash