The benefits of investing in staff are well-documented, and we know that this can have a positive influence on levels of well-being at work, retention, and ultimately on a business or organisation’s productivity. When we think about workplace wellbeing, often the things that come to mind include team get-togethers, lunchtime walks, jovial physical activity sessions, and safe spaces to talk. Very rarely is tackling mental health stigma part of the well-being conversation. For too long, stigma has been considered an afterthought, an enigma too uncomfortable and clunky to challenge head-on. But tackling stigma is inherent to the well-being agenda and is often the precursor towards greater organisational change. It’s no secret that mental health stigma continues to be experienced across workplaces in Wales, which over the years has cost people their jobs, opportunities and livelihoods.
This is why, 8 years on, Time to Change Wales (TtCW) continues to support employers from across Wales to amplify its mission and bring about real cultural change at work, calling out stigma wherever it rears its ugly head. TtCW works with employers centred around six core principles which collectively aim to instil cultural change where openness and safety to disclose and discuss mental health becomes the norm. Signing the TtCW Employer Pledge is an altruistic commitment to want to change things for the better for your people. It’s not a quality mark or endorsement. It’s about taking stock of where an organisation is at, capturing its strengths and mapping out where they want to get to, a departure on a journey rather than a point of arrival.
Being explicit about an organisation’s commitment to staff wellbeing and supporting mental health is a positive thing, but it should no longer be seen as exemplary. Having this in place should be the minimum standard that anyone joining a business or organisation in Wales could expect. Starting on that baseline gives much better hope of achieving a working Wales that is healthier, more productive, and prepared for the next generation of workers who will no doubt demand nothing less.
So what’s the value of this against such a crowded mental health and wellbeing landscape?
According to our latest employer survey, 83% of our employers say that being involved with the Time to Change Wales Employer Pledge has had a positive impact in their workplace[1]. Delving deeper into the data, 96% of the organisations surveyed say that as a result of Time to Change Wales, it has encouraged more open conversations about mental health at work. A further 86% said that since signing the Time to Change Wales Pledge, they’ve provided line manager training on managing mental health at work. All of these things, when looked at individually, can seem superficial, but when combined together and replicated across multiple organisations, this is where we begin to see a sea change and the gradual dismantling of stigma.
Changing behaviours at work takes considerable, joined-up, and sustained effort over a long period of time, but without this process underpinning the policy work, nothing actually changes at the coalface. As the saying goes, culture eats policy for breakfast, and this couldn’t ring truer when it comes to tackling stigma and driving out toxic behaviour at work. So, we urge you to join this movement in Wales, whether a small or larger employer in Wales, your contribution to this really matters.
[1] Time to Change Wales Evaluation with Champions and Employers, September 2024
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