The Work Couch: Mental health at work (Part 2): Implementing effective mental wellbeing measures, with Neil Laybourn

Welcome to The Work Couch, the podcast series where we explore how your business can navigate today's tricky people challenges and respond to key developments in the ever-evolving world of employment law.

Trigger warning: The following page deals with themes around mental health, including suicide, severe mental health conditions and mental health in the workplace.

To mark Mental health awareness week this month, we are devoting a four-part mini-series to mental health at work. In part 2, Ellie is joined by the other key person from the incredible "Stranger on the bridge" story, Neil Laybourn, who on that fateful day in January 2008, stopped to talk to Jonny Benjamin, who was about to take his own life on Waterloo Bridge.

Like Jonny (who Ellie spoke to in part 1 "Turning despair into hope"), Neil is a passionate mental health advocate and now runs his own consultancy, helping employers to implement end-to-end employee mental health programmes.

We discuss:

• Neil's 30-minute conversation with a stranger on a bridge that sparked a remarkable friendship and a shared determination to champion better mental health support;
• Challenges and barriers for businesses in supporting their people's mental health;
• Hybrid working and mental health;
• Removing negative working practices to help create a psychologically safe workplace culture, for example the Mindful Business Charter;
• Factors to take into account when implementing mental wellbeing support measures;
• The business case for better mental health support at work; and
• How to engage under-represented communities in implementing your organisation's mental wellbeing programme.

* Please note these podcasts will not run on Internet Explorer

To access further support on mental health, you may wish to visit: the Samaritans, Mind, or Rethink. Or you can use the text service from Shout on 85258

We hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did, please subscribe to be notified when new episodes release.

You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts and Spotify to stay up to date with the latest episodes.

All information is correct at the time of recording.  

The Work Couch is not a substitute for legal advice.