As an organisation PA has always been committed to supporting the health and well-being of all of its people, providing extended periods of sick pay, temporary flexibility in hours, phased return to work, as well as funding private medical appointments and counselling as required.
In a predominantly male environment, we are acutely aware that men often feel uncomfortable talking about mental health issues and seeking help can be difficult for them.
Over recent months, the importance of taking care of our mental as well as our physical health has become even more apparent as we introduced shift patterns and agile working in response to the global pandemic.
During lockdown we conducted a staff survey to check on the well-being of our staff who were working from home and we circulated articles and reminders to line managers to encourage regular contact with their remote workers but we were keen to explore what else could be done.
So that we continue to support our colleagues and give them access to appropriate and relevant information and support we invested in Mental Health First Aid Training for two of our Managers. Ian Mayo and Dorothy Wainscott have successfully completed a Mental Health First Aid course and are on hand as a first point of contact for individuals and line managers who may have mental health-related concerns.
Although mental health first aid training is not mandatory, mental health issues are an increasingly common occurrence in the workplace and whilst the PA management team are always available to listen and offer support there was no-one previously trained in the best way to do this.
It’s important that our team know we are there for them to support, help and guide them whatever they are going though….they are not alone.
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