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Mental Health & Wellbeing

Creating a workplace that prioritises mental health is key to improving employee wellbeing, reducing harm, and boosting productivity.

Working in a mentally healthy environment can reduce the risk of mental harm and improve employee satisfaction, wellbeing, and productivity. It can also reduce the likelihood of injuries and musculoskeletal disorders.

The average full-time worker spends almost a quarter of their week working, so it’s safe to say that our wellbeing at work is intrinsically linked with our overall mental health. The Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA) defines health as including “physical and mental health”. This means businesses are responsible for providing and maintaining a work environment that reduces risks to physical and mental safety and health – as far as is reasonably practicable.

Our approach

ShopCare promotes a wide range of resources to meet the retail industry and supply chain’s unique needs for a mentally healthy workplace.

Our goal is to promote evidence-based mental health and wellbeing practices in the retail sector and its supply chain, fostering supportive and healthy workplaces for kaimahi/workers.

A man wearing a khaki t-shirt and camouflage pants sitting on a sofa with his hands clasped on his lap listening to someone speaking.

How ShopCare can help your business

  • We  promote practical tools and evidence-based guidance to help you develop and maintain a mentally healthy work environment.
  • We provide actionable insights into improving the health, safety, and wellbeing of your people.

What is mentally healthy work?

Mentally healthy work is work that prevents harm and actively supports mental wellbeing.

Good work design allows people to thrive, enhancing productivity and retention. By creating a mentally healthy work environment, people are more productive at work and more likely to stay in the job they have.

Unhealthy work environments can lead to significant health issues such as anxiety, poor mental health, depression, musculoskeletal disorders, and even immune system impairments.

 

Poor work design can make us sick and cost money

According to the Business Leaders Health & Safety Forum (BLHSF) guide for CEOs on mental health and wellbeing 2023, modern work practices are leading to increased mental harm. Stress, anxiety, and depression have risen significantly in recent years due to poor work-life balance and high workloads.

In New Zealand, stress-related absenteeism has increased by over 23% since 2017. The cost to businesses is substantial, with 69% of employees reporting mental health-related absences, reflecting global trends where mental health issues are a leading cause of lost productivity and higher costs for employers.

For more detailed guidance on mentally healthy workplaces, click here.

 

Benefits of a mentally healthy organisation

Prioritising mental health and wellbeing in your organisation brings far-reaching benefits. For individuals, it can increase job satisfaction, resilience, and productivity. For businesses, this focus can lead to improved talent acquisition and retention, better work quality, and greater efficiencies.

Building positive working relationships in a mentally healthy workplace fosters trust and encourages knowledge sharing. A zero-tolerance approach to behaviours such as bullying and discrimination, alongside managers who lead by example, helps create an open and supportive environment.

 

12 key drivers of workplace wellbeing

The World Wellbeing Movement, in collaboration with Oxford’s Wellbeing Research Centre, has developed a playbook of evidence-based interventions organised around 12 key drivers of workplace wellbeing.

  • Achievement
    Employee wellbeing is linked to the achievement of work-related goals through useful skill, effort and dedication.
  • Learning
    Empowering employees with autonomy and access to learning and development opportunities has multiple benefits for wellbeing.
  • Appreciation
    Expressions and actions of genuine appreciation can have a profound impact on wellbeing.
  • Management
    Supportive management is fundamental to how people feel at work and to ensuring the job gets done.
  • Compensation
    Fair pay and other forms of compensation are foundational to building workplace wellbeing.
  • Purpose
    Purpose can serve as a powerful motivator in the workplace that drives both performance and wellbeing.
  • Energy
    Energised employees are more engaged, productive, and happy at work.
  • Stress
    Employee stress can pose serious risks to workplace wellbeing if left unaddressed. Identify and mitigate the root causes.
  • Flexibility
    Granting your employees more freedom over when and where they work can improve their wellbeing and productivity.
  • Support
    Employees who feel truly supported are less stressed, more satisfied at work and perform better.
  • Inclusion & Belonging
    Diversity shapes the workforce while inclusion enables employees to thrive.
  • Trust
    Trust fosters a safe work environment where employees feel supported and valued, encouraging greater creativity, innovation and collaboration.

 

Credit: Cunningham, S., Fleming, W., Regier, C., Kaats, M., & De Neve, J. (2024) Work Wellbeing Playbook: A Systematic Review of Evidence-Based Interventions to Improve Employee Wellbeing. World Wellbeing Movement.

Download the full playbook here: Workplace Wellbeing – World Wellbeing Movement

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Industry reports

Valuable resources

  • Kmart case study

    Mentally healthy work in retail: WorkSafe

    Click to view
  • WorkSafe NZ: Psychosocial hazards and effective management

    Psychosocial hazards and effective management.

    Click to view
  • WorkSafe NZ: Mentally Healthy Work in Aotearoa New Zealand

    Mentally Healthy Work in Aotearoa New Zealand: How we kōrero about mental wellbeing matters.

    Download
  • Business Leaders Health & Safety forum

    Mental wellbeing at work.

    Click to view
  • SafeWork Australia: Managing psychosocial hazards at work

    Managing psychosocial hazards at work (note that regulation references are Australian).

    Click to view
  • Māori health models

    Māori health models Te Whare Tapa Whā | Ministry of Health NZ.

    Click to view
  • Mental health in small & medium businesses

    Paths to Sustainable Success.

    Click to view