Championing positive mental health at work across Leeds and West Yorkshire
Leeds Mindful Employer Network
Championing mental health at work
across Leeds and West Yorkshire
April 2022 Newsletter
Dear network Members,
Welcome to our April newsletter.
As you may be aware April is Stress Awareness Month. We have included some great information, tips and resources to help you talk about stress with colleagues. Please let us know how you get on.
We are very excited to be including a save the date for our next network event, which will take place in-person on Wednesday 11th May to celebrate Mental Health Awareness Week (9th-15th May). Please see more details below, we do hope you can join us!
Please do continue to share with us anything that might be of use to fellow network members. And as always, we really welcome your feedback, ideas and suggestions on how we can improve what we do - we'd love to hear from you.
The Mindful Employer Network is free to join for all local employers and their staff across Leeds and West Yorkshire. This month we are extending a warm welcome to new network members from the following businesses and organisations:
Cafcass
Omega Security Systems
Care and Repair Leeds
Schofield Sweeney
Chakra Corporate
Seacole Healthcare Ltd
Cycling UK
Swan Song
HBPO Group
Taycare Medical Ltd
Kate Binnington Occupational Therapy
Touchstone
Leeds Beckett University
West Yorkshire Consortium of Colleges
Leeds Involving People
Yorkshire Cancer research
Lemon Balm
As always it's fantastic to see the wide range of local employers represented within our network. If you know someone who would benefit from being involved please do forward them this bulletin - they can sign up here.
Have you signed the Mindful Employer Charter?
We encourage all our network members to consider signing the Mindful Employer Charter. This is a great way to demonstrate your organisation's commitment to better mental health. Being a Mindful Employer brings many benefits including access to an affordable 24 hour staff support line MINDFUL EMPLOYER Plus for only £1 per staff member per year.
Please get in touch if you have any further questions about the Mindful Employer Network or Mindful Employer Charter.
Looking for some help getting started on your Mindful Employer journey?
Our Ten Steps Toolkit is a fantastic place to start - full of helpful tips, useful links and local case studies.
"Such a good resource! Can't wait to get stuck in and make some real changes for my team!"
Please get in touch if you'd like us to deliver a free in-house workshop for your team.
Employer Blog: workplace wellbeing at Punch Creative
Punch is a Leeds-based creative agency made up of 18 colleagues offering creative, content, digital and strategic services.
In an industry that has always been known for long hours and stressful deadlines, the founders of Punch knew that they wanted to be different in prioritising employee well-being.
In a recent blog, Studio Manager Helen Fairburn shares a fantastic range of facts, figures and tips on promoting wellbeing and raising awareness of mental health at work. We're especially pleased that Helen talks about the value of being a Mindful Employer and of being part of Leeds Mindful Employer Network.
This is a great opportunity to open up discussions about stress at work.
Some ideas you might try:
- Involve staff in reviewing your company's stress risk assessment
- Discuss stress in team meetings and come up with a plan for how to reduce it
- Encourage staff to share tips on how they manage stress.
- Ask people to think about their 'stress bucket' (see below) and discuss with colleagues
- Share a blog about personal experience of stress and how to manage it
- Raise awareness of your approach to supporting mental health at work
- Signpost staff to resources, information and mental health support services
- Promote healthy working practices through leading by example
Some tips to help reduce stress at work:
1. Talk to your line manager about your workload. Ask if things can be delegated or re-prioritised to help you.
2. Make sure you’re physically comfortable. Sitting in an uncomfortable chair or working in a hot room can all make us feel more stressed.
3. Be clear on expectations. Not knowing what’s expected of us can make us feel anxious or confused. Clarify expectations and deadlines.
4. Take regular breaks. Get out for a walk at lunchtime, and have a tea with colleagues in the afternoon.
5. Book in some annual leave and make sure you use your annual leave allowance. We all need regular breaks away from work to help us feel refreshed.
The Stress Bucket is a tool we have shared before and can be a great exercise to get people thinking about what causes them stress and what they can do to help release or manage it.
The stressors are all the pressures coming in that cause the bucket to fill up. The coping strategies are the holes in the bottom, allowing the stress to reduce before the bucket overflows.
Everyone's stress bucket will be different. It can help for people to discuss their buckets with others and share their coping strategies.
Join us at our next event!
Help us reach employees in hospitality
Mindful Employer Leeds is working with Leeds Trinity University to explore the mental health experiences of people working in the hospitality sector. We will use research findings to tailor our support to local hospitality businesses.
If you know someone working in the hospitality sector please forward them the survey link below:
