You have a responsibility to make sure your workers are aware of learning opportunities that can help to promote and support mental health and wellbeing in the workplace.
Finding the right approach for you
We know that all businesses are different and are likely to be at different stages in creating a mentally healthy workplace.
There is no "one size fits all" approach.
It's a good idea to start by building your understanding and awareness, so you can build a supportive workplace culture.
Then, making sure managers have the training and skills to recognise issues and the need for support.
Find more information on building your organisational culture.
General awareness raising and understanding
Several organisations that specialise in mental wellbeing have information and toolkits to help you understand mental health issues.
- Mental health toolkit - Business Disability Forum
- Supporting employees with mental health difficulties - SAMH
- Advice for managers on supporting mental health of employees - HSE
- Mental health improvement and prevention of self harm and suicide - NES
- Bereavement Services for Employers : Cruse Bereavement Care
- Managing in difficult times - Guidelines
Video content
Health Scotland, jointly with NHS Education for Scotland, has produced three animations in an "Ask, Tell" series.
These are to help people start conversations around mental health and show all staff how to support people who may be feeling suicidal or experiencing mental distress.
Public Health Scotland and NHS Education for Scotland have produced videos to prompt discussion promoting children and young people’s mental health and preventing self-harm and suicide.
- View the 'What is mental health? video
- View the 'How to talk about mental health' video
See Me have a YouTube channel with videos about mental health in the workplace.
Online learning
Mentally healthy workplaces - Learning resources - Public Health Scotland. This is training for anyone who wants to learn more about mental health in the workplace.
Stress and the Workplace – Public Health Scotland. This training focuses on the relationship between pressure and stress and how this can impact wellbeing.
National trauma training programme. The Programme offers free, evidence-based trauma training to help workers in all sectors understand and support people affected by trauma. It also provides resources to support staff wellbeing, which is key to creating trauma-informed workplaces.
The See Me in Work e-Learning Portal is an easy-to-use programme to help you understand more about mental health stigma and discrimination in work.
Case studies
You can view our case studies to learn how other organisations have implemented mentally healthy working practices.
Supporting mentally healthy workplaces: national learning network for employers
A new national learning network to help employers promote and support mentally healthy workplaces has been established.
The network is jointly hosted by the Scottish Government, Public Health Scotland and See Me.
To find out more, visit our National learning network for employers.
Mental health and suicide prevention learning provision
This is a review of the publicly available mental health and suicide prevention learning programmes in Scotland.
It does not include self-directed learning or programmes that focus on professional roles.
Feedback from programme trainers, providers and commissioners highlights:
- what works well
- opportunities for improvement
Major areas for improvement include:
- matching the learning needs of participants to appropriate programmes
- measuring the impact of learning on service responses
The review sets out five focus areas and suggested actions.
This is to improve mental health and suicide prevention learning for workforces and communities in Scotland.
View the Mental health and suicide prevention learning provision.
