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What do you need to do?

Gain management support

It is important to gain support and commitment from senior management right from the start. Having management on board will make it a lot easier for you to implement your initiatives.

Find out more about gaining management support
Use the information and tools in building the business case for mental wellbeing

Find out about people's interests

You should choose and plan your initiatives according to your colleagues' interests and needs.

One way of gathering this information is to conduct a short survey. This will also help you to see what enthusiasm there is for mental wellbeing.

Download the employee survey and tailor it to suit your workplace. Use the scoring to prioritise what you do and when.

group, task, training, people You can also gather employee feedback through:

informal meetings or chats
team meetings
suggestion boards or boxes
online feedback
events.

Conduct a workplace survey

A workplace survey will highlight how you can use existing resources or adapt the environment you work in to support your mental wellbeing programme.

It will show how your workplace policies and practices may affect mental wellbeing.

Download the workplace environment audit and tailor it to suit your workplace.

Ideally a senior manager or the mental wellbeing coordinator should fill in the workplace assessment. Use the results grid and scoring to calculate your workplace mental wellbeing score.

To learn more about a mental wellbeing employee survey and workplace assessment order your Health at Work toolkit.

Set up a mental wellbeing policy

A workplace mental wellbeing policy is a written document stating an organisation's commitment to mental wellbeing. It outlines how the organisation will promote and encourage mental health in the workplace and tackle stress.

Find out more about writing a mental wellbeing policy. Download the Health at Work Policy template and tailor it to suit your workplace.
Sign up to the Mindful Employer Charter

Plan your initiatives

Don't underestimate the amount of time it takes to plan and organise an initiative. Allow plenty of time and prepare thoroughly - this will pay off in the long run.

Offer initiatives to individuals and also look at what you need to do at an organisational level to promote mental wellbeing. If you only work at the individual level, without organisation-wide changes, you will not make much impact.

Remember to start small and build on what you are doing over time.

Choose your initiatives

Decide what you are going to offer, based on the feedback and information you've gathered. If you've received plenty of different suggestions, you'll have to prioritise which ones to focus on.

You can do this by using the scoring systems on the employee survey and workplace environment audit.

Produce an action plan

An action plan of initiatives, spread over six months, will help you to focus on what you are going to deliver and when. Revise your plan regularly and be flexible - you may have to change plans to suit people's needs, preferences and availability. Download the Action plan template.

Promote your initiatives

It is important to make people aware of your initiatives and encourage them to take part. People can't participate if they don't know what is happening.

Give adequate notice so that they can set aside the time and arrange their work around it. While some may have shown an initial interest, they may need a gentle reminder or encouragement to take part.