Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training is becoming an essential step for businesses as mental health is the number one cause of long-term sick leave. Recent statistics showed 48 million lost working days due to mental health related absences, at an estimated cost of £6.9 billion per year to UK businesses.
Deloitte found that 61% of UK employees had left their job or planned to leave said this was because of poor mental health. Instead of waiting for employees to leave, employers should look to preventative measures. MHFA training is one step further to understanding your employees, being able to have open conversations and encouraging your team to thrive.
The importance of management training
With the recent statistics from the Chartered Management Institute showing that 50% of workers who feel their manager is ineffective are planning to change jobs next year, it is vital that businesses build supportive relationships between managers and employees to understand the needs of individual workers to create a healthy workplace.
The amount of employee absences due to mental health is on a sharp rise. Being able to build trust in managers is essential to build employee-employer relationships. This means being able to provide a safe place for employees to share how they’re feeling and be aware to notice any changes in your team’s mental health.
Further reading: The role of the manager (page 18)
What is MHFA training for managers?
The course has been developed by MHFA England, the workplace mental health experts. Research from their mentor study found that the inclusion of MHFAiders® had huge effects within workplace behaviours:
Line managers should be the first point of contact for employees. As a manager with MHFA training, you will be equipped to offer initial support to an employee who is experiencing a mental health issue. This course will not train you to be a therapist but equip you with the knowledge and confidence to offer initial support to colleagues and signpost them to the relevant resources.
The main responsibilities of a MHFAider® are:
- Prevention
- Early intervention
- Signposting to support
You will learn about factors that can influence mental health, how to communicate in a non-judgemental way and what support is available based on the needs of the individual. To learn more, read why workplaces need mental health first aiders.
Some of the benefits include:
- Reduce the stigma surrounding mental health in your workplace
- Increases retention, productivity and overall wellbeing
- Create a happy, healthy workforce by forming an environment where employees feel supported for their physical and mental wellbeing
- Have both MHFAiders® and First Aiders available
- Promoting healthy performance of individuals will promote healthy performance of the business
- Provide consistent health and wellbeing for all employees
- Become a self-care role model as a line manager
How can I book?
The course has been developed by the Department of Health and Mental Health First Aid England. At Westfield Health we offer this training for businesses looking to have qualified mental health first aiders for managers within their company.
Course details:
- Course length: 4 hours
- Location: remote or face-to-face
- Cost: £150 per learner, or £2,400 for a full course with 16 learners
- Qualification: Certificate provided
Here is a sample course structure:
You can find out more about the courses we offer by visiting our MHFAider® page. If you have any questions or are looking to book your space, please call us on 0345 602 1629 or email [email protected].
Alternatively, view our other mental health first aider courses here.