Why workplace wellness is in our hands

We “bombard” workers with staff surveys each year, expecting to be illuminated with fresh insights into the ideal workplace design. But the answer remains the same, says National Mental Health Commissioner Lucy Brogden.

With more than a decade’s experience in organisational psychology, Lucy Brogden is passionate about workplace mental health and wellbeing. She is presenting the ‘Mind over Matter’ session at Green Cities 2018 from 13-15 March in Melbourne, and will explore how we can better manage the mental health of workers – whether that’s someone working on site or in the finished building.

Brogden says we’ve “come a long way” in some areas of workplace design, particularly in rejecting the “old model of senior executives getting all the natural light and views from corner offices”.

“We have a far deeper understanding of stressors in the workplace – noise, exposure to stimulants and anxiety – but it has taken a while.

“Most of the research we rely on today is not new,” she says, pointing to the Hawthorne studies, conducted by Elton Mayo and Fritz Roethlisberger in the 1920s, as an example.

“We’ve known for nearly 100 years that there is a link between employees’ surroundings and their productivity – it’s taken a long time for this to translate into better workplace design.”

She’s inspired by the “growing cohort” of professionals within the psychological fraternity that now work with architects to create places that support wellbeing.

“There is interesting research emerging around green space, for example, which suggests it’s not enough to have green space – it has to be useable green space. And people need time in their work day to use the green space.”

The National Mental Health Commission is a partner in the Mentally Healthy Workplace Alliance, which Lucy says is the “only national group that brings employers and unions together around the table to look at this issue”.

We know that good work is good for people and good for business.  There is solid evidence supporting the financial returns to businesses that invest in good job and work design.  These benefits come from a reduction in presenteeism, or reduced productivity at work, as well as from absenteeism and compensation claims.

Despite the obvious benefits, Lucy says employers “continue to look for different answers to the same question” when it comes to staff satisfaction with their workplaces.

“We bombard people with staff surveys expecting something different to appear. But it doesn’t.

“Staff tell us time and again that they want safe, pleasant work environments, time with family and something meaningful and interesting to do.”

Looking beyond offices, Lucy applauds the work of Mates in Construction for its work to “shine a light on the issue of mental health in the construction industry”.

Mental Health in the Construction Industry, a report prepared by the University of Melbourne on behalf of Mates in Construction in 2017, found that suicide was “elevated in construction workers “, at a rate 1.7 times higher than other male workers in Australia.

Lucy is cautious of this statistic, but she does say that the incidence of suicide in the construction industry is “probably higher” than other industries.

Revisions to Green Star, released in 2017, now recognise and reward projects that improve the health and wellbeing of construction workers. This includes requirements for training and wellbeing programs to improve conditions for those on site.

“Programs run by Mates in Construction, and other initiatives like Toolbox Talks, speak directly to construction workers in their language,” she adds.

“It’s important to understand the particular stressors in the construction environment. There are a lot of subcontractors, for example, and we know job security is a big part of wellbeing. Moving from project to project can be distressing for people, as they don’t cope with uncertainty.”

Balancing commercial reality with workers’ mental health can be achieved through simple measures, Lucy says, “like sharing the corporate strategy and pipeline of work to reassure them, and putting measures in place so they understand they are not just a commodity.”

Organisations like Lendlease have initiatives such as Mental Health First Aid, with more than 900 people trained globally.

There’s a clear economic incentive too, with research published in the International Journal of Environmental and Public Health in March 2017 finding the economic cost of suicide and non-fatal suicide behaviour in Australia was an estimated $6.73 billion.

“Our built environment has a huge role to play in supporting good mental health,” whether in urban planning, design, on construction sites or the day-to-day management of workplaces.

“Our challenge is to create workplaces that keep people well and allow them to participate in the workforce while in recovery.”

Lucy Brogden will explore how we create places that support good mental health at Green Cities 2018, from 13-15 March in Melbourne. Register today.