My Whole Self · Mental Health First Aid England
Today 12th March is MHFA England My whole Self Day. This newsletter is focused on new research MHFA have carried out, and their campaign for workplace culture change.
My Whole Self is Mental Health First Aid England’s campaign for workplace culture change, culminating on My Whole Self Day. We want organisations to empower employees to bring their whole self to work. By bringing together diversity and inclusion with health and wellbeing we can drive positive transformation in workplace mental health and performance.
At Mental Health First Aid England, we believe wellbeing and productivity fuel one another. We know teams that feel safe and connected work better together. Our people and teams are at their most effective and creative when everybody feels psychologically safe and is seen, heard, and valued.
To mark My Whole Self Day, MHFA have released new research. It reveals that almost 1 in 3 employees (31%) have experienced at least one form of microaggression or discriminatory behaviour from their manager in the past six months.
My Whole Self is the campaign for workplace culture change, led by MHFA England. We are calling on employers to create cultures where people feel safe to bring their whole self to work, to drive improvements in mental health and performance. This research shows there’s a long way to go.
The findings, among 2,000 employees, show the most common negative comments or assumptions managers have made, in the past six months, relate to people’s age, working patterns, personal life, and physical or mental health. Misspelling or mispronouncing people’s names also make the top five.
More broadly, the most cited exclusionary behaviours employees experience from management includes ‘not getting credit for work done, ‘favouritism of other employees’, and ‘sarcasm’. Overall, almost half of employees (48%) have experienced one or more forms of discriminatory or exclusionary acts from their manager in the past six months.
There are noticeable differences among people’s experiences. Across working ages, while two thirds (66%) of those aged 18-34 state they’ve experienced these behaviours from managers, only 38% of those aged 45-64 say that’s the case. Alongside this, whilst half (47%) of White British employees saw this type of action from managers, this rises to 57% of Asian or Asian British workers, and 72% of Black or Black British employees.
The impact on employees is stark. Almost 1 in 5 people said these experiences had a negative outcome on their mental health and 1 in 7 employees has considered quitting their job as a result.
Over 1 in 7 employees also said these microaggressions left them feeling that they couldn’t be their whole self at work. We want employers to act by creating environments where everyone is able to bring their whole self to work. That includes background, sexuality, religion, gender, health and mental health. My Whole Self aims to create workplace cultures where people have the safety and freedom to choose which parts of their identity they share at work, without fear of judgement.
The MHFA campaign is vital as 33% of employees said their company does not promote equality and inclusion, they were unsure of any such initiative at their workplace, or their organisation had no way of doing so.
Being a proud Instructor Member of MHFA I fully endorse and support this campaign.
At Sanitas Hub we can provide a 60 minute ‘Wellness Session’ where we can work with delegates to support them in the workplace. To book a session email info@sanitashub.co.uk.
Currently I am looking at additional ways to support everyone in the workplace. As a Registered Mental Health Nurse, I can provide support and information on topics such as workplace wellness, menopause and neurodiversity. If you would like to discuss further please email at info@sanitashub.co.uk
Booking a Mental Health Wellbeing Course with Sanitas Hub
Mental Health Consultancy in the Workplace
For further inquiries, company group training or mental health consultancy please do not hesitate to get in touch at sanitashub@gmail.com
