City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Western Australia, has taken strong steps forward in supporting the mental wellbeing of its workforce, opting to expand the one day RU OK? Day initiative into a week of presentations, workshops and activities to help staff develop skills and techniques to improve their mental resilience.
Chief Executive Officer, John Walker said the Mind Your Health Week campaign was a way the organisation could create a meaningful opportunity for its workforce to achieve a healthier lifestyle balance.
“In this post pandemic climate, we are seeing an obvious impact on the mental wellbeing of our staff, especially with the ongoing hard borders, and isolation from friends and family that can cause, so we wanted to put something in place to support our employees, as we know some of them have
been struggling.
“The ‘Mind your Health’ program kicked off with RU OK? Day and included informal sessions for staff with mental health focused guest speakers, yoga classes, massage vouchers, resilience assessments and mindfulness workshops, providing a holistic approach to mental health.”
Walker said the activities were selected to offer staff a stigma free environment and the opportunity to come together without feeling awkward, while encouraging meaningful conversations about mental health.
“Our Employee Assistance Program is well utilized, as well as other health and wellbeing initiatives, but I thought it was time to do a little more than just say ‘are you okay?’, and show staff we really care.
“We wanted to give staff who aren’t doing well the skills they need to move forward, as well as supporting those who are doing well with the tools and understanding of what might be happening with their colleagues and how they could help.”
Mind Your Health Week ran from 10 to 18 September across the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder.
