Although the policy domain score increased in 2021, there is still room for improvement. Particularly in relation to having a policy for leaders to have regular mental health and wellbeing training, which was the lowest scoring indicator for the industry.

What you can do?

If you need support developing, or updating, your mental health policy sign up to get an obligation-free call from of our Workplace Wellbeing Consultants who can help you through the process.

Another focus area for the industry is around staff having the knowledge and skills to support each other’s mental health and wellbeing. With nearly half (47.5%) of workers in the industry reporting experiencing a mental health condition in the last 12 months, it’s important workers have the knowledge to recognise when someone may be struggling and the skills to provide support.

What you can do?

This would be a great opportunity to build capacity in staff to learn more about mental health and wellbeing and how to take care of themselves to ensure they stay mentally well, even through challenging times.

To learn more about why the workplace is an ideal environment to support people’s mental health and explore some steps you can take to support a colleague, download the Peer Support booklet

Or learn more about caring for your own wellbeing and engage in a confidential module to check-in on your wellbeing.

The highest psychosocial risks facing the Construction industry are poor change management, inappropriate workload and
low recognition.

Poor change management

Change management, rewarding and recognising good work, and workload management are all impacted by how leaders engage with workers.

Remember that change impacts everyone differently. For change to be a success, workers must be continuously involved and informed. There should be no big surprises if leaders are communicating effectively and providing individual support throughout the change process.

Low recognition

When considering an inappropriate workload, whether that is too much or too little, it is important to explore actions such as:

• Prioritising the most important tasks to be completed where workload is too high
• Teaming up workers where workload is low, to support (and build connections) and perhaps learn new skills to add to your own skillset, or share some of your skills with others
• Supporting workers to manage stress levels and know when they are being pushed to the limit, and
• Focusing on what is controllable and realistic when workload is high, and check-in with workers often to see how they’re going.

Inappropriate workload

Think about implementing new strategies where there is low recognition. Through valuing each team member and recognising good work, each individual will feel more connected to the team, improving connectedness and culture. Examples of this may be:

• Celebrating achievements e.g., weekly team meetings shout outs, lunch/coffee/pub voucher as recognition of good work, and
• Incorporating regular, immediate and specific feedback via in-person chat to acknowledge effort, excellence and skillset.