This Emotional Resilience Toolkit provides practical guidance in promoting the resilience of individuals and teams in companies as part of an integrated health and wellbeing programme.
The toolkit has been produced by Business in the Community, and the Mental Health Foundation was part of the Steering Group.
The Toolkit has been designed to be used in conjunction with the Towers Perrin Healthy Workplace Action Pack and includes:
- The business case for promoting emotional resilience among employees
- Examples of best practice and lessons learned from companies
- A 12-step model for planning, executing, reviewing and updating your own emotional resilience initiative
- Useful resources and information
This Toolkit includes research, case studies and suggested actions which employers can take to facilitate emotional resilience in the workplace, including:
- Providing a pleasant physical working environment (e.g. good lighting, ergonomic seating, etc)
- Promoting healthy behaviour in the workplace (e.g. healthy eating, physical activity)
- Providing training for employees and managers to recognise and take early action to ameliorate conditions that can produce stress
- Providing opportunities for ‘good work’ – i.e. characterised by employment security, task variety, autonomy, fair treatment and reward for effort, strong workplace relationships and effective development and use of skills (Coats and Lehki, 2008)
- Providing support for employees with mental health problems (and other related health issues) to remain at work and/or return to work as quickly as possible. Employers have a legal duty to ensure non-discrimination against people with mental health conditions and this Toolkit can provide support for companies working to meet their obligations in this area
Building on the Government’s Mental Capital and Wellbeing Project Final Report (2008), the Steering Group has recommended five simple actions that employers of all sizes and sectors can take to promote wellbeing at work:
- Foster a sense of community
- Get people moving
- Nurture sensitivity to the environment
- Promote learning and development
- Encourage generosity at work
Whether you are a specialist practitioner working in a large organisation (e.g. in Human Resources, Occupational Health, Health and Wellbeing, Corporate Responsibility), an operational manager, a financial director or the owner/manager of a small to medium-sized business with an interest in understanding the business case for investing in employee health and wellbeing, we hope you will find this information useful in developing emotional resilience initiatives for the benefit of your employees and your organisation.
Statistics: Mental health at work
Working conditions and environment can have a huge impact on mental health and, equally, someone's mental health can have a significant impact to perform well in their job.
Publication: How to support mental health at work
This guide provides you with tips on how to look after your mental health at work. Good mental health at work and good management go hand in hand and there is strong evidence that workplaces with high levels of mental wellbeing are more productive.