Changing attitudes to mental health: Dr Paola Carr-Walker talks to Oven-Ready HR

To conclude Season 2, Oven-Ready HR turns to employee wellbeing and mental health which is high on the agenda of many organisations. 

Events at this summer’s Olympic games have again highlighted the importance of an individual’s mental health in terms of performance, following the brave decision of superstar American gymnast Simone Biles to retire from competition to concentrate on her own mental wellbeing.

The events of the past 18 months have also brought wellbeing and mental health into stark relief with home working becoming the default for millions.  So, what can employers and in particular HR professionals do to ensure a happy, mentally healthy and engaged workforce?

This week’s expert is Dr Paola Carr-Walker.  Paola Carr-Walker is a chartered clinical and forensic psychologist, and has spent two decades working across in-patient and community mental health services, and also for the prison service where she spent 10 years at Broadmoor Hospital.  She also holds a postgraduate qualification in clinical neuropsychology and is the co-founder of Heads Forward, a specialist consultancy business that combines leadership, culture, and people transformation expertise with scientific rigour.

This interview covers:

• Whether employee mental health and wellbeing would be as high up the organisational agenda if it wasn’t for Covid-19;
• How mental health is forecast to become the world’s number one health crisis;
• ‘Hospital grade’ mental health issues are as likely to be found in the workplace as they are in a specialist environment;
• Are we too reliant nowadays on feeling ‘happy’?  Is it healthier to accept that occasionally things go wrong?
• Should we think about our mental health in the same way we do our physical health?
• Aside from Covid-19 – what’s been the catalyst for organisations to concentrate on employee wellbeing and mental fitness
• How effective leaders build mental fitness into their organisational culture and how important they are in breaking down the stigma of mental health issues and giving opportunities for mental health to be discussed;
• How  organisations should be managing hybrid working for their employees to remove worker uncertainty and anxiety;
• How mental fitness boosts happiness and productivity and preventions is far better than cure.

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