Supporting mental health in SMEs through new online training

Mental health related absences impact on people professionally, personally and cost UK businesses millions of pounds. IMPROVE.online which provides easy-to-use, affordable and interactive training for SMEs is now providing impactful online mental health training.

IMPROVE.online has partnered with the charity Advocacy Focus to launch three short courses on why SMEs should talk about mental health, the common symptoms and making mental health awareness a key part of the workplace. The three courses are intentionally very short, easy to understand and practical.

The pandemic, the current ‘great resignation’ and financial uncertainties means people have faced challenge after challenge. SMEs may not have the time or resources to be able to prioritise mental health as much as they would like to.

Carolina de Almeida, Training Manager from Advocacy Focus said: “As a company we use IMPROVE.online  for our own staff training and we noticed there was an opportunity for the platform to also provide mental health awareness training. The team at IMPROVE.online  were already planning a series of training modules about mental health so they were keen to work with us.

“Together we have developed the three courses to help empower people in SMEs to have real conversations about mental health.  We all spend a lot of time at work and prevention is key to  supporting employees’ mental health so people feel happy and can be productive.

“This training will give employees the knowledge to challenge and tackle mental health stigma and discrimination and the confidence to support their own and their colleagues’ wellbeing. Our hope is that these sessions will empower people to champion positive mental health in their workplace.

“By these courses being available on IMPROVE.online  this means even more SMEs now have the chance to learn more about mental health and make real change in their workplaces.  With billions being lost by UK businesses to mental illness, we need to realise that when people feel supported they are more likely to be their best self and feel passionate about the place they work – so this isn’t just the right things for employers to do. It is also the financial sound decision!”

Sam Merrall at IMPROVE.online, said: “People are the most important part of businesses which means Mental Health awareness is essential all year round, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

“During the lockdown when people in SMEs were working from home we listened and provided a course dedicated to mental health and working from home.

“Now we are proud to have launched three new online courses that are dedicated to supporting mental health and wellbeing. Giving people advice about talking about mental health whilst offering insights into the importance of language and stigma.

“People might need help at any time. These courses are useful for everyone to make sure they feel equipped with the skills to understand mental health and feel like they can respond should they need help.”

IMPROVE.online now has 90 courses ranging from GDPR, Health & Safety to customer service skills and management training with more courses being developed all the time. On average a training module takes 12 minutes to complete. They are innovatively presented to engage people in a learning experience, ensuring every minute of training keeps employees interested and helps them to practically understand how to apply the skills and knowledge into their day to day roles.