Standard 4

This standard has four parts:

1. Increase mental health literacy of all staff and provide opportunities for staff to learn about how to manage their own mental health.

2. Ensure all staff are suitably prepared and educated to have effective conversations about mental health, and where to signpost for support, including in inductions for all new staff.

3. Train your line managers in spotting and supporting all aspects of mental health in the workplace, and include regular refresher training.

4. Support managers to think about employee mental health in all aspects of their role including during staff inductions, one-to-one meetings, team meetings and return-to-work meetings.

Much of the Commitment is about actions you can take, or policies or services you can put in place. This standard is, too—but its focus is more on the who, not just the what.

You can never know when or where an opportunity to make a change, a request for help or a trigger for a conversation might arise, so having a workforce that feels confident in responding positively is vital. Regular training is one part of that jigsaw; information and awareness-raising is another. You also need to be putting mental health on the agenda during inductions, supervisions and return-to-work conversations.

People at all levels of an organisation have a role to play, and employers should support them all in fulfilling it.