Leicestershire-based digital marketing agency Digital Ethos is making mental health awareness its top priority by appointing a Mental Health First Aider to help its employees.
Jess Harvey, Head of Operations at Digital Ethos, recently applied for and completed a mental health training course designed to bring better mental health support to the workplace for employees that need it.
The training has allowed Jess to understand risk factors and warning signs for mental health and addiction concerns, strategies for how to help someone in both crisis and non-crisis situations and where people can turn for help.
“It’s incredibly important that workplaces have a Mental Health First Aider in place for their employees”, said Jess. “We can end up spending more time with our colleagues than family and friends sometimes if you’re in an industry with long hours so it’s vital we have someone to talk to if needed.”
According to Mind, one of the leading mental health charities in the UK, one in 6.8 people experience mental health problems in the workplace - and evidence suggests that 12.7 per cent of all sickness absence days in the UK can be attributed to mental health conditions.
Jess’ motivation for undergoing the mental health training included wanting to support her staff on a personal level and to understand the stresses that affect employees the most.
“We all have different experiences of mental health, so it’s important to understand as many causes and symptoms as possible so any problems can be resolved early,” Jess added.
“We don’t want our employees to be suffering in silence and hopefully they know I am here for them to talk to if they need reassurance. For anyone considering undergoing mental health training, I highly recommend it. You will be given the right tools to support someone who may need help and that feeling is incredibly rewarding.”
In addition to Jess’ mental health training, Digital Ethos supports its employees in other ways such as including paying for professional therapy for any staff member should they need it, offering mental health days for when a step back from work stresses is need, an open door policy to promote communication and away days to build relationships in the workplace.
To find out more information about Digital Ethos and how the company is supporting its employees, please visit https://digitalethos.net/.