Three ways to provide mental health support in a project-driven organisation
The theme of this year’s day is ‘Mental health is a universal human right’. To those of us who have had mental health on our agenda for years, this statement may feel obvious. But by saying aloud, we reinforce the importance of defending everyone’s right to positive mental wellbeing.
As a global organisation we believe fully in the statement. While we can’t influence local policies, we do believe in nurturing a culture every day that inspires people do their best work, by creating a good working atmosphere where people feel at home and cared for.
The stats on wellbeing at Royal HaskoningDHV
Part of progress on an issue like mental health is not pretending to have the complete solution. It’s celebrating successes and working each day to shift the dial further to help those who may still be struggling. More on just what we’re doing there in a moment.
But first where we are today. At Royal HaskoningDHV our principal metric is the work-life balance of our 6,500 employees across the globe. In the world of project-driven consultancies, the line between work and life is often blurred. Our employees work to enhance society together with clients through innovative projects and solutions to tackle the big challenges of our time. This work often aligns and weaves with their own passions and values. It is what makes us great at what we do.
To that end, I’m pleased that in our latest employee survey more than two-thirds of our organisation (68%) reported having a good work-life balance. But 12% reported not feeling that balance – and that’s where my focus lies as we recognise this important day on the global calendar.
Three ways we’re supporting wellbeing
Coaching and educating project managers
Education is the simplest and most effective tool we have to help support our teams across the globe. By educating the right team members in the right places, we’re able to ensure they’re prepared in the right moments to support colleagues at difficult times. Good education can result in prevention, not just mitigation.
One of the initiatives I’m most proud of, that we’ve implemented this year, is coaching for our project managers to help them identify, manage and support the mental health of their project teams.
When we talk about educating managers to identify the signs of declining mental health, we often think of line managers. Of the people holding our 1-to-1s and managing our career pathways.
But in our line of work, project teams and project managers are just as important, if not more so. They see you day-to-day and are very often in charge of the pressing demands that come with globally significant projects.
Awareness and connection to support
The big pitfall we can make in our industry – in ourselves and others – is thinking that bad mental health is something that can’t or won’t happen to us. As I mentioned, our teams are intelligent, driven individuals – who may be more aware of mental health as an issue. But it doesn’t mean we aren’t susceptible. Mental health is a human right exactly because it can affect every one of us.
So, alongside hands-on training for project managers, we support broader opportunities for awareness and connection. Helping us see the wood through the trees – and give out colleagues the framing through which they can understand what is a very big and broad topic.
This awareness takes the form of individual and team workshops on identifying the triggers and signals of mental health. In yourself and others. And we also offer coaching touch points within the business to further support employees.
It also sees us lend our voice to initiatives like the Dutch ‘Hey, are you okay?’ campaign on psychological safety in the building and infra sector. Encouraging people to reach out to one another and check-in in a meaningful way.
Clarity through policy
Initiatives are a crucial part of lifting the conversation around mental health. But nothing helps quite like enshrining the importance of the topic in policy. Doing so gives people a sense of clarity – that one-off initiatives are paired with a consistency in intent and approach.
For us that takes a number of forms – from our working from anywhere policy – allowing employees to shape their working life around their personal needs, passions or requirements.
Elsewhere, a pillar of our Code of Conduct is ‘People First’. We are an organisation of people and we want to walk the talk. We have a People Academy in our learning portal that helps develop the people skills of our (project) managers.
Finally, in our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion policy we emphasise psychological safety and the importance of belonging. And as we look to the future, we’re exploring cementing mental health as a part of the yearly performance & development cycle.
Not all of these steps will work for every business. It is about listening to your people and building solutions and approaches that work in your context, and register meaningfully with those who come to work every day.
Because mental health is a human right. And we all deserve to be protected and supported.
