Providing safe spaces and friendly faces at work this World Mental Health Day and World Kindness Day

What do compliments, duckling videos, and podcast recommendations all have in common?

They’re all ways that we support each other’s mental health and show that we care here at The Social Deck.  

With both World Mental Health Day (Thursday October 10) and World Kindness Day (Wednesday November 13) rolling around this time of year, we would like to take a moment to reflect and appreciate how we value these important topics in the workplace.  

World Kindness Day prompts us towards random acts of kindness in our daily lives and to pay even the little things forward. Even simple check-ins and recognition can go a long way to making someone’s day. Something to keep in mind during those everyday interactions – and hey, I don’t know who needs to hear this but … you’re doing great today.

As for World Mental Health Day, this year’s theme was Mental Health at Work.  

The World Federation for Mental Health and the World Health Organisation, along with other partners, head the global campaign to highlight the connection between mental health and work. Considering how much time we spend at work, and the value of the work itself to many of us, it’s no wonder it can have a big impact on our mental health – and vice versa.  

As an organisation, The Social Deck supports staff mental health by, among other things:

• providing policies like flexible working arrangements and personal leave

• using trauma informed practice both internally and externally  

• providing Mental Health First Aid training

• and setting up support and debrief procedures for all sensitive or complex projects.  

All of these ‘official’ things are crucial, but day to day I think it’s the support and connection that has sprung up organically within the team that makes the biggest impact. We regularly do things like:

• share milestones and accomplishments – whether it’s baby pictures, holiday snaps, or athletic achievements, we make a great cheer squad.

• help others – altruism is famously good for the person giving as well as receiving, so we invite each other to contribute to fundraising activities, attend community events, or even just raise awareness about important issues. The Social Deck also sponsors a child through the Smith Family, and we all look forward to the updates we get about their education and wellbeing.  

• share resources – a common recommendation is the mental health and resilience themed podcast The Imperfects, and we’re often sharing other books, shows and content to help us learn and grow.  

• And of course we share positive feedback. We’re not a team of big egos, but we are certainly proud of each other and we’re not afraid to show it.  

At The Social Deck, mental health isn’t a dirty word and the conversations are ongoing. The more we talk about it (or not, if that’s better for a person’s mental health that day) the more we can reflect, support each other, and build on our knowledge.  

This focus on mental health has influence our project work as well. This year we have been particularly proud to start working with Mental Health Australia on their annual Issues and Opportunities Workshop, and with Embrace Multicultural Mental Health on strategic communication. We’re grateful to partner with experts in the field and be able to contribute to better mental health across the Australian community.

You can read more about work and mental health and World Mental Health Day on the World Federation of Mental Health website.

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