Supporting each other this Blue Monday

For this Blue Monday, he’s sharing his top tips to help other organisations put a priority on the mental wellbeing of their staff.

One in four people experience a problem with mental health such as anxiety, depression or stress every year. This is why I’m proud to lead our annual mental wellbeing campaign at Welsh Water every January to March.

We believe, for all of us to take care of our mental health, it’s important we have access to the right information when we need it – whether we’re trying to learn more about mental health conditions, treatment options, or simply find practical resources to support our mental resilience and wellbeing.

For me, there’s no better time than at the start of the year to remind colleagues that mental health does matter, especially with Covid dominating all of our lives and creating so much uncertainty. The last 24-months have been a real struggle for lots of us and I’m sure you can relate to that feeling of ‘Blue Monday’ at the start of 2022.

That’s why the theme of our mental health campaign this year will focus on how our teams can sustain their resilience and cope with change, and we’re calling this campaign ‘Your Mind Matters’.

As part of the campaign, we’ll be providing information and opportunities for colleagues to discuss mental wellbeing and we’ll do this in several ways, including webinars, presentations for team meetings and briefing packs for our senior teams when they visit our various sites.

Behind all of the content we share, the key message is a simple one. We should all take time to look after our mental wellbeing and support each other.

And, as it’s Blue Monday here are my top tips to help you boost your mental wellbeing in 2022:

• Get a good night’s sleep. Getting enough hours of quality sleep can have a huge benefit to your mood, concentration, energy and overall mental wellbeing.
• Exercise and eat well. By that, I don’t mean wake up at 5am every day and head to the gym while only eating a restrictive diet of salad leaves! Just get lightly moving for 30 to 60 minutes each day and try to get more vegetables and fruit into your daily meal plan. Doing both of those things can reduce anxiety, boost self-confidence and improve your mental wellbeing.
• Open up and get talking. Talking about how you feel can be really difficult and it isn’t easy to do, but if you’re struggling and feeling down, telling someone can take a huge weight off your shoulders and help you get the support you might need. Don’t feel like you’re being a burden by talking either, your family and friends all care about you and want to help.

For organisations, there are some ways you can help your employees take care of their mental health too:

• Promote the importance of taking regular breaks. Encourage your employees to have a proper lunch break and to take regular breaks through the day. This gives them time to mentally reset.
• Encourage line managers and teams to check in with each other. Give your employees an opportunity to simply ask each other ‘how are you?’ each day. It builds team bonds and gives employees a space to share any problems they might have.
• Look at cost-effective schemes you can bring in to support your employees and their wellbeing. At Welsh Water, we’re lucky to have access to an Employee Assistance Programme, Headspace, discounted gym schemes and a Cycle To Work scheme. All of which are a big boost.