|
BT has teamed up with the Communication
Workers Union, Connect and mental health charities to launch a major
project to help staff with mental health problems such as anxiety,
depression and stress.
The Work Fit – Positive Mentality campaign
aims to provide practical guidance to BT’s 104,000 employees across
the globe on how to improve their mental health at work and at home.
Although BT has been doing a lot to promote
mental health in recent years, it estimates that on any one day it
will have 500 employees absent due to psychiatric problems.
BT hopes that by encouraging staff to adopt
small changes in lifestyle and using proven techniques for
increasing their resilience they will cope better with the pressures
of modern living and work more creatively and productively.
All of the company’s employees will be
given information on how to stave off and combat mental ill-health.
The programme will demonstrate how regular
exercise, healthy eating, relaxation techniques and even the support
of friends and family can help to ward off depression, stress and
anxiety. It will also educate staff to help reduce the stigma of
mental illness and promote the range of support services that the
company provides.
BT customer service manger Heidi Howarth,
35, was off work for three years following a serious car crash and
suffered from depression.
Mother-of-two Heidi said: “I am now back at work full time after BT
paid for counselling for me. Following my accident, I felt very
isolated and was very physically restricted. I had been a very
active person and I found this very hard to bear, which led to my
breakdown.
“The counselling I had made a world of difference and the positive
support maintained by both my management and colleagues kept me in
touch with the world.”
BT’s chief medical officer Dr Paul
Litchfield said: “Mental wellbeing is the biggest health issue
facing us in the western world.
“Attitudes and behaviours moulded by the
gentler pace of life of the second half of the 20th century will not
serve us well in coping with the frantic intensity of our 24/7
global society.
“We need to help our people get mentally
fit for their lives at home and at work. BT takes pride in the way
it supports people who develop mental illness but we want to go
beyond that and help them avoid ill health in the first place so
they can lead happier and more productive lives.”
Branch comment. We shall watch
closely to see if BT are true to their word, so often information
and new policies like this one are reinterpreted in a rather
different way by first and second line management, and it is our job
to actively remind them!
|
