Free, tailored mental health and workplace wellbeing coaching are now available for NSW businesses owners and leaders.
From fire, floods, and of course, the pandemic, it has been a challenging couple of years for the NSW business community. In response, a new initiative by the NSW Government is putting mental health awareness front and center for business owners.
Wellbeing Coaching
Post-lockdown, the NSW government has partnered with Transitioning Well, a work-life wellbeing support provider, to provide business owners and leaders with free coaching on mental health and strategies to manage work-related issues.
The coaching is funded by the NSW Government and delivered by Transitioning Well. The team at Transitioning Well provides up to four hours of free coaching to businesses with less than 200 staff or not-for-profits of any size.
The program provides owners or leaders one-on-one business coaching on any mental health at work topic to help them promote, manage, and support workplace mental health. Coaches work with business leaders on:
- Strategies to manage work-related issues including bullying, stress or change.
- How to act early, communicate effectively and reduce mental health stigma.
- Flexibility, role clarity and setting expectations that can improve workplace culture.
- How to lead change and involve others.
- How to implement flexible work and mental health policies
Mental health in the workplace
Pandemic restrictions and working from home conditions have highlighted mental health issues in the workplace and encouraged business people to create a mentally healthy working environment. However, many need guidance on what does and doesn’t work, according to Transitioning Well’s Co-Director Dr Sarah Cotton.
She said, “Never has there been a time where businesses need more help on managing mental health at work and are more open to receiving it.
“Business owners are so stretched for time that if they reach out for help on mental health at work topics, they need to make sure that their needs can be met and that they have the confidence in the provider to support them.”
Jim Kelly, Director of Health and Safe Design at SafeWork NSW, said, “The mental health toll on many workplaces has been high as businesses have had to change during the COVID pandemic.
“Business and job uncertainty, increased pressure on workers, dramatic change to where we work and how we work all impact on our mental health in the workplace.”
Helping businesses
The pandemic has left businesses across NSW with vastly different needs. While some companies navigate continued working from home conditions, others face the challenge of bringing their workforce back to the office. Understanding individual business needs and creating a tailored approach is central to Transitioning Well’s methods.
Dr Cotton said, “At Transitioning Well, we know our methodologies work, and we feel we are a really great fit to the NSW Government’s vision for this innovative and timely program.
“We’re going to be in the trenches with business leaders delivering support and working with them side by side to address their challenges with practical and easy to implement actions.”
The State Government has invested in various programs and institutions to address mental wellbeing in NSW workplaces.
Mr Kelly said, “We are offering a suite of programs to help businesses provide a safe workplace that is mentally healthy. We have trained over 19,000 people through our Blackdog training programs, and the new Direct Practical Coaching service has already supported over 900 businesses through the successful pilot phase.
“We are pleased to be working with Transitioning Well to continue to expand this support to more NSW businesses to create mentally healthy workplaces.”
Read more: New mental health resources provide support to business owners
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