Working as a People Development Manager since 2017, I had always loved my job. Even on the most difficult of days, morale was always high, staff were happy, never overwhelmed and generally loving life!  Yes, there were challenges and sometimes difficult situations to navigate around, but mostly, it was the most incredible working environment to be in, with the most incredible people.  

In 2019, things changed. The pandemic hit and boy did the hospitality industry feel it. Like most businesses, we closed, we put people on furlough, and we sat it out until we got the go-ahead to re-open. 

When we finally re-opened after 3 months, everyone was certainly pleased to be back. But it was different, not just with people trying to navigate their way around what was the new ‘normal’, but the people were different.  I couldn’t put my finger on it, but the culture had changed, the morale wasn’t there, and staff just didn’t seem ‘happy’ anymore. It was my job to find out why. 

Fast forward a year and I had also started to notice a difference in some employee relationships, general morale, and significant increase in team absence, not only that, but absences due to Mental Health had increased quite dramatically. With part of my job involving being the ‘People person’ of the location, I needed to do something to try and turn this around, to find ways to support the team in a much bigger way than they had needed before. 

That’s when I stumbled upon a Mental Health First Aid course, and the best thing was – IT WAS FREE!! 

I completed this course in a matter of weeks and after doing so, I felt so much more equipped to confidently help the team, to know what my role in supporting them with their mental health was, and to signpost them in the right direction if it was too much for me to handle myself.

What has all of this got to do with your automotive business I hear you ask. Well, poor  Mental Health isn’t fussy, it doesn’t only pick certain people, or certain industries and with May being Mental Health Awareness month, I thought it a great time to introduce you to this Mental Health First Aid Level 2 course and give you a bit of an insight into how it can be beneficial for you to have a qualified Mental Health First Aider in your business.

What you need to know

· The course is 100% fully funded by the HM Government and is available at www.freecoursesinengland.co.uk

· You do not need to register your business. All you need to do is make your employees aware of the website above, it is then up to them if they wish to enrol.

· It is a flexible distance learning from home course

· There is no exam, just assessment questions at the end of each module

· There is allocated tutor support to students if needed

· The course is to be completed within 6-12 weeks to remain free. If not completed in this time, the student will be charged a £100 administration fee

The course is designed to:

  • Encourage people to challenge the language we use around mental health
  • Explore different frames of reference and the stigma attached to mental health
  • Help people to understand what good mental health looks like
  • Explore the factors that can have an impact on our mental health
  • Look at how to support yourself and others with self-care, giving the skills to influence your own mental health and help prevent mental ill health
  • Teach how to intervene (including in a crisis), reassure and signpost to further support
  • Teach about diagnosable mental health conditions, what unwell looks like and how to spot these signs in yourself and others
  • Talk about what to do if it is thought that someone is unwell and the steps to take for early intervention
  • Talk about recovery from mental illness and looking forward

I would recommend that every business has a Mental Health First Aider. The course is great for anyone interested in being a MHFA at work advocate. Covering topics such as the Mental Health Continuum (which I didn’t even know existed until I did the course!), how to spot signs of mental health stress, best practice procedures, how to approach those confidential conversations etc.

Although the course is at most a 12 week study, it’s important to remember is that becoming a trusted Mental Health First Aider takes time, and the person has to want to do it, and has to care. 

With it being Mental Health Awareness month in May, I highly suspect that this course is going to reach capacity extremely quickly, so please act fast.

I managed to significantly change a number of employees experiences with the support I was able to provide (including actually working in conjunction with a GP and a local gym to help one of our team remain at work), and although I will not openly write about that on a public blog such as this one, if you would like to know more about my experience and how this course helped me become a more wholesome person, and a more valuable employee to my manager, and a more valuable manager to my team, then feel free to get in touch. 

Here is a link to my diary :  Calendly – Regan HR Vitals 

You can also use this link for all HR enquiries. 

Thank you

Regan Day

HR Advisor

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