VIRGIN AUSTRALIA
CREATING A MENTALLY HEALTHY WORKPLACE
Focusing on the mental health and wellbeing of employees is no longer a ‘nice to do’; it is now one of the most important issues relating to employee productivity in Australia today.
A recent PricewaterhouseCoopers report identified that ignoring mental health was costing Australian businesses $10.9 Billion per year in lost productivity. And, with poor mental health likely to impact one in five employees, taking action can result in profound impacts. PricewaterhouseCoopers also discovered that, on average across all businesses, for every $1 invested on mental health initiatives there’s a return of $2.30.
We launched a health and wellbeing program called Better Me to not only ensure our people would be safe and healthy when at work, but to help improve their lives simply by being a part of the Virgin Australia Group.
Being a diverse organisation, with team members located in Australia and New Zealand, we utilised online and app-based technology to engage our people, act as a platform to share resources, run physical activity challenges and competitions, and even provide access to free flu vaccinations for all team members.
Whilst the aim of the Better Me program was to cover all elements of wellbeing, a key focus was on promoting and supporting positive mental health. Below are some of the initiatives implemented.
Mental health strategy
Working with our community partner, Black Dog Institute, we reviewed how we were working with our people to promote positive mental health, prevent the onset of mental illness, and support those who may be experiencing it. We developed a mental health strategy to help track our progress and to allow us to continue to improve the way we approached mental health in the workplace.
Our vision was to help our people become happier, healthier and more socially-connected, underpinned by our company values; heart, spirit, imagination and collaboration. Our goal was to achieve this through the delivery of the broad strategic objectives on the outer layer of our framework.
Mental health first aid training
We introduced mental health first aid training for 40 team members from our People and Injury Management teams. The aim for the training was to ensure they were best placed to support team members who may be developing a mental health problem or experiencing a mental health crisis.
Care Crew
We launched a peer support program, Care Crew, made up of a group of volunteer team members who were identifiable to others by a pin worn on their uniform. The Care Crew, who in addition to having an understanding of the challenges of airline roles, were trained to provide initial support and direct team members in need to other support services.
Healthy Minds training
More than 350 people with leadership responsibilities, from front line leaders to members of the senior leadership team, also completed a one-day mental health education program. The course provided participants with a greater awareness of mental health in Australia as well as our workplace, and provided practical tips and information about supporting someone who has disclosed they have a mental illness.
On-site coaching and counselling
In partnership with our Employee Assistance Program provider, we trialled an on-site coaching and counselling program in one of our airport locations, which resulted in a 50 per cent increase in EAP utilisation over a threemonth period.
Lived experience speakers
In partnership with our community partners, we also delivered a number of lived experience roadshows across our airports in Australia and New Zealand to help reduce stigma and encourage help-seeking behaviours.
Mindfulness and meditation
We partnered with Smiling Mind, a web and app-based meditation program developed by psychologists, to introduce mindfulness and meditation content on the Better Me platform. We also ran a trial of yoga and meditation sessions for team members based in head office.
The results
In the 12 months since the launch of the Better Me program, more than a third of our team members based in Australia and New Zealand were actively using the online platform or app. We witnessed a significant shift in culture and help-seeking behaviour, and we also saw people engagement grow by seven per cent to a result that was 15 per cent higher than the Australian and New Zealand peer set.
As a business and an employer, managing mental health helped us:
reduce staff absenteeism and working days lost each year
increase productivity
create a mentally safe and healthy work place
observe work health and safety laws, requiring employers to take reasonable steps to make their workplaces mentally safe and healthy.
Moving forward our aim is to continue implementing best practice interventions, introduce new initiatives where we see opportunities to improve, and continue to make a positive impact on the lives of our team members.
