Measure how your workplace ‘Promotes’
Promoting mentally healthy work can help people and organisations thrive. It goes beyond complying with legal obligations and recognises the benefits of good work. Many workplaces may already measure things such as staff engagement, but other measures can also help you enhance mental health in your workplace.
Part of the Measure what matters module.
Understand how to ‘Promote’ mental health in your workplace
There are many ways mental health can be promoted through good organisational or work design, as well as individual interventions. Some areas of measurement you may wish to consider in promoting positive mental health and wellbeing include:
- identifying opportunities for personal and professional development and meaningful connections
- consulting with workers to identify opportunities for people to shape their work and connect to purpose
- recognising and rewarding positive behaviours and recognising and celebrating diversity and inclusion
- identifying ways to build positive management and leadership capabilities in managers.
Engaging with people in your organisation who have lived or living experience of mental ill-health or suicide is vital. For instance, having organisational leaders, managers or workers sharing their experience will help create a safe space to talk about mental health and overcome some of the challenges including stigma.
Useful data about how well your organisation ‘promotes’ mental health includes job satisfaction rates, participation in wellbeing promotion activities and use of flexible working arrangements.
How data can help
Data can help identify ways you can optimise work culture, work design, work environments and build skills that support personal and team-based resilience. It can help you answer questions such as:
- Are people able to adapt their work to match their preferences and strengths?
- Are people supported to continually grow and develop in their careers?
- Are people supported to achieve work–life balance?
- Are people satisfied with their work, workplace and workplace culture?
- Are wellbeing programs and initiatives supported?
- Are people able to opt in or opt out of wellbeing programs and initiatives?
- Are people supported to achieve personal psychological wellbeing goals?
Some example measures
Your organisation must choose the measures that it needs. Here are some examples of potential measures:
- rates of satisfaction with workplace culture
- utilisation of flexible working arrangements
- number of professional development opportunities available
- self-reported co-worker support
- number of mental health and wellbeing activities scheduled
- percentage of workers who participate in mental health promotion activities
- sustainability of program outcomes
- funds allocated to wellbeing activities
- number of mental health and wellbeing communications
- review of policies for their potential to inhibit or support mental health and wellbeing.