Five tips for better mental health in the workplace

Stress is the second most common cause of workplace compensation claims in Australia. However, there are ways to deal with it – whether you're an employee or an employer – writes Eliza Oakley from Sane Australia.

None of us are immune to stress – we will all experience some kind of stress at some point in our lives. We therefore need to invest time and energy into understanding stress now, so that when we’re faced with unexpected pressures, we have options for how to manage our lives both at work and at home.

Here are five great resources to support better mental health at work, which will flow into benefits in our daily lives:

1. Create interactive, connected workplaces

Writing for Harvard Business Review, Emma Seppala, science director of Stanford University’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education, tells us research “shows that our greatest need after food and shelter is social connection – positive social relationships with others. If we create work environments characterised by these kinds of positive and supportive interactions, we create organisations that thrive".¹

This important article also points to a study that shows employees “prefer a happier workplace to a fatter pay cheque”.

2. Take a real holiday from work

Organisational Psychologist Charmaine Bourke, in an article for In The Black titled ‘The benefits of taking a real holiday from work’, offers tangible ways to successfully detach from work. This includes taking regular breaks and vacations and completely unplugging from every screen while you're away, as research shows that people "who successfully detach from work are more satisfied with their lives and experience fewer symptoms of psychological strain". ²

3. Manage your energy, not your time

An article in the Harvard Business Review, ‘Manage your energy, not your time’, calls on workplaces and individuals to play a role in better workplace practices.

In it, the Energy Project’s Tony Schwartz and Catherine McCarthy advise that “to effectively re-energise their workforces, organisations need to shift their emphasis from getting more out of people to investing more in them, so they are motivated – and able – to bring more of themselves to work every day". ³

Their approach also puts the onus on the individual to recognise and change any of their own energy-depleting behaviours.

4. Employers: Preventing and managing work-related stress

It’s essential that our workplaces take on their responsibility for the wellbeing of employees. With tools like WorkSafe Victoria’s Guidebook for employers: Preventing and managing work-related stress, there’s no longer any excuse not to address issues that negatively affect an employee’s physical or mental health. This guidebook can be adapted to suit most Australian workplaces.

5. Mindfulness for adults

Research tells us that mindfulness training has positive health benefits. Some workplace leaders commence meetings with one minute of silence to assist with quieting the mind and increasing focus. If that’s not your style or you need more direction, Smiling Mind provides mindful meditations for adults, which you can listen to anytime. You can trial a session of adult mindfulness at the Smiling Mind website.

Choose one of the above resources, read and digest. Then determine what action you can take to improve your workplace for yourself, and therefore those around you.

Read Eliza’s thoughts on why offering mental health support is vital for business here.

1 Emma Seppala, Harvard Business Review, ‘Good bosses create more wellness plans than wellness plans do’, 8 April 2016,

2 In the Black, ‘The benefits of taking a real holiday from work’, 11 November 2015,

3 Tony Schwartz and Catherine McCarthy, Harvard Business Review, ‘Manage your energy, not your time’, October 2007