Training and Development

Leadership competence is one of the underpinning pre-requisites for preventing mental health and wellness issues at work. Having competence and confidence to effectively perform is another clear underpinning requirement. 

Therefore having a targeted Competency Framework that prioritises competencies that equip leaders to address many of the work related factors is a powerful foundation for successfully shaping a psychologically safe space at work.

Increased clarity exists around performance expectations and helps people see a clear link between their performance and the performance of the organisation. This “blueprint” communicates which behaviours are valued, required, recognised and rewarded for different roles, ensuring a common understanding of the organisation’s values and performance expectations.

In this example, you will see that the model shows the “core competencies” and then further defines these into “functional competencies” by role for different levels of leadership.

In addition to core and functional competencies, there are three main objectives to keep in mind when designing your competency framework: the retention of staff, the recruitment of staff, and effective succession planning to ensure the right people are in the right position within the organisation moving forward. 

The following guide provides an overview of what is needed when building a competency framework. As outlined in Constructive and Committed Leadership, around using your Competency Framework to help deliver wellbeing, this is an important exercise that will take a little time but will become a strong foundation for coaching conversations, development planning and performance appraisals.

Short course Mental Health Training is only part of an overall solution. 

In the sections on Dedicated Resources for Wellness, we discussed the need to have people available to observe for and support in early intervention. Helping them feel equipped is an important part of the process and short course Mental Health Training can be both part of helping them feel prepared and something they could bring back into the organisation.

Physical first aid is accepted and widespread in our community, however most do not cover mental health problems and so many first aid responders and health and safety representatives don’t feel confident in offering support in times of high stress or crisis.

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) teaches people the skills to help someone who they're concerned about.

Other short courses that can help to support individuals to manage stress and build resilience could include:   

• Stress management

• Nutrition and fitness 

• Lifestyle management

• Financial services

Once leaders have articulated and communicated the desired culture, that is not the end. To embed a culture takes persistence and reinforcement.

Reminders about the desired behaviours are required for some time until it becomes ‘just the way we do things around here’ and even then, new staff will need to be inducted and at times, longer tenured staff will need to be ‘re-inducted’. This has also been explained in more detail in the topic Embedding the Culture.

Below is a checklist to guide your thinking in relation to the key activities that need to integrate to embed a culture. This Framework has been designed to address many of these: 

Processes, systems and procedures also need to align with the culture. The following are a set of examples of how culture has been embedded, from both a behavioural perspective and bringing policy and procedures into alignment. 

Ways to embed the behaviours core to the culture

In the Forbes article, ‘5 Things you can do to Drive Corporate Culture’, one idea was to make it fun. Using humour can be a great way to embed the culture because it raises great discussion and supports the clarification of meaning.

The induction process sets the tone for new employees and is your opportunity to provide them with an engaging entry into the organisation. If you take the time to help new employees feel comfortable in the early stages of their employment and come to grips with their new role, it will increase their sense of belonging, of safety and ultimately, help to ensure retention.

In fact, induction done well can pre-empt some of the factors that are known contributors to mental health and wellness issues at work.

Induction is the perfect time to define the culture for new employees, subcontractors or longer-term visitors to site. Walking through the culture strategy provides clarity on expected behaviours as well as the ‘higher purpose’ that the organisation is working toward. 

Good induction not only helps individuals feel confident they have an understanding of what’s important, it is also one of the quickest ways to increase their feelings of inclusion.  

This checklist, from the Fair Work Ombudsman, provides the foundations and expectations that form part of most best-practice inductions.

To really enhance your induction, review the callout boxes to see where you can have a direct impact on the wellbeing of new employees as they navigate their new environment.

Where to now?