Psychological Injury Claims on the Rise – What Can Workplaces Do?

In a recent survey conducted by Allianz, 43 per cent of respondents indicated that their organisations have not introduced new mental health initiatives since the start of the pandemic. This coupled the with 69 per cent of Australian employees surveyed having not had a conversation with their employer about their mental health since the start of the pandemic, is it any wonder that psychological injury claims have increased by 5 per cent over the last year?

And let’s face it, collectively, we are not okay, people are struggling to combat loneliness, manage conflicting responsibilities all on top of a pandemic and the usual life challenges such as grief, divorce, moving house, having a baby, etc. Doing a companywide mental health awareness session or sending out a factsheet is not enough at this time. Organisations, now more than ever before, need to implement a fully integrated mental health framework that covers the prevention, intervention and recovery process.

This October, along with our regular work creating robust mental health frameworks within our client organisations and supporting recovery from psychological injury, we have customised our consulting offering to make sure leaders and employees in general are skilled in how to have constructive mental health conversations and understand the difference between ‘just having a bad week’ and becoming unwell. Our training also upskills leaders in an area that is often over looked when we talk about mental health – recovery. Understanding how to keep an employee in ‘good work’ while they recover from a psychological injury or a mental health concern requires a new set of skills in a virtual or hybrid work environment.

Check out our tailored training programs running during October – Mental Health Awareness Month or contact us to discuss your workplace mental health needs.