Every £1 spent on staff wellbeing results in a £5 return (Deloitte, 2020)
Deloitte’s paper ‘Mental health and employers: Refreshing the case for investment (2020) makes a positive case for employers investing in mental health, with an average return of £5 for every £1 spent. Some positive changes in the workplace were identified including, greater openness in discussing mental health at work and more provision of support overall.
On the flipside the report found that there has been a significant rise in mental-health-related ‘presenteeism’, where employees work when they are not at their most productive, with mental-health related absenteeism and staff turnover contributing to the costs overall. Alongside this, changes to working practices are found to make maintaining mental health more challenging for some. For example, while an increased use of technology can enhance working practices, having the ability to work outside of normal working hours can also make it hard to disconnect from an ‘always-on’ culture.
At FD Consultants we have been leading the way in developing wellbeing workshops for individuals and organisations, getting excellent results. Below we share some of the trainings we offer.
Management & Leadership Training
At FD Consultants we have found that through the Pandemic mental health is discussed more openly in organisations, but managers need to be provided with the tools, confidence, and knowledge to support staff with mental health issues. Therefore, we have developed a 4-step management and leadership training programme which includes Personal Resilience, Mental Health Awareness, Conflict Resolution and Absence Management. We also offer coaching and team building services.
If you would like to find out more about our management and leadership training, click here.
Becoming Trauma informed
At FD Consultants we work with the humanitarian sector, emergency first responders, mental health charities, journalists, and anyone whose work exposes them to traumatic incidents or material. We published our first book: Psychosocial Support for Humanitarian Aid Workers: A Roadmap of Trauma and Critical Incident Care (Dunkley, 2018) a guide to trauma care for individuals or organisations.
We are reassured to see organisations becoming more trauma informed. The high-profile case of Facebook being sued by moderators who developed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from being exposed to traumatic material online, has made organisation stand up and take notice of the risk hazard of trauma injury in the workplace.
Our half-day trauma awareness workshop provides an overview of trauma symptoms to enhance understanding and explains the physiology and neuroscience of trauma. Being able to recognise the signs of trauma in ourselves and others is a critical skill in the workplace, and one that cannot be taken lightly. This half day workshop allows you to gain skills to support someone who is traumatised.
For more information about our trauma awareness training click here.
Psychological First Aid (PFA) peer support programmes
Having recently setup peer support programmes in Myanmar, Ethiopia, and Sierra Leanne, we see first-hand the benefit of embedding peer support programmes into organisations. We wrote a blog on ‘Surviving the Longevity of Trauma’, as the world is having to cope, more than ever, with the effect of cumulative trauma. This highlights the need to train staff in psychological first aid and provide sustainable support.
Our training provides a common language to speak about mental health head on, challenges stigma, offers practical and accessible tools and techniques in stabilisation and building resources, and psychoeducation to recognise signs and triggers. We assess peer supporters within the organisation, offer an in-depth global specific training, and make sure there is significant follow up support, with regular supervision sessions.
To find out more about our PFA training click here.
Stress Management and Resilience Building
We pride ourselves in offering our successful trademark ‘Managing Stress and Building Resilience’ workshop. This is our most popular training and has been in demand throughout the pandemic. This workshop aims to identify our stress cycle and to build our resources to manage our stress levels. We will explore the physiology and neuroscience of stress. This half-day workshop includes practical exercises to reduce stress, including creating your own wellbeing plan using our own RESPECT resilience model (Dunkley, 2018).
Additionally, we are excited to announce that we are offering the ‘Manage Stress and Build Resilience’ workshop online for all to access. This is a user-friendly, engaging, E-Learning training. If you are interested in signing up for this training, please click here.
Please contact us, if you are interested in any of our training programmes, or if you want us to deliver a bespoke training specific for your organisation, at [email protected]
FIONA DUNKLEY is a trauma therapist and counsellor who has helped people and communities affected by war, terrorism and sexual violence. Drawing on experiences described in her new book – Psychosocial Support for Humanitarian Aid Workers – in these podcasts she tells us about the importance of community and its values in helping people overcome trauma.
