Penguin Books has launched a new guide called ‘Mental Health at Work’, which includes a contribution from our charity.

The book, written by Penguin Business Expert James Routledge, has quickly become a bestseller and includes real life case studies on successful mental health strategies from the likes of KFC, Social Chain, Octopus Group, and Guild Care’s CEO, Alex Brooks-Johnson.

Originally joining the Guild Care team back in 2020, Alex Brooks-Johnson was invited to share his approach to dealing with the mental health and wellbeing of our 650 staff and volunteers.

Soon after becoming CEO, tackling mental health and wellbeing in the workplace was one of Alex’s main priorities. Alex said, “Guild Care is an amazing charity with a long history of being an excellent employer but the impact of Covid on our team clearly needed addressing.”

Leanne Jones, our charity’s Head of HR, had already been doing some great work on recognising the need to improve the approach to mental health and devised Wellbeing Action Plans for each employee to create with their manager. These plans gave people the time and mandate to discuss this vitally important subject.

Interim Head of HR, Leanne Jones (L) and CEO of Guild Care, Alex Brooks-Johnson (R) with the book

Alex added, “Paying attention to mental health at work has never been more important. It is something that impacts everyone, and I wanted to create a more supportive and caring workforce at a time of great stress, allowing us to continue to deliver innovative and life-changing care services across Worthing.”

For Guild Care and many other social care organisations, mental health is an increasingly significant issue. Due to the nature of the work, compounded by Covid, burnout, anxiety, depression, and stress related illness are all too common.

Alex and the team created a policy for all staff to have in place a Wellbeing Action Plan and specific management training to ensure regular check-ins with all employees as well creating a safe space for conversations about mental health.

Alex said, “We can’t turn people into experts, but we do recognise the importance of having a good relationship with your manager and how influential they are to employees’ mental health.”

Alex shared, “It has been an honour to be a part of this book and great that the wonderful work of our team has been recognised. I hope that through our learnings and advice, we can help other organisations improve mental health at work. We aren’t perfect, but every step in the right direction helps.”

We are currently looking for people who are interested in a career in care and can offer a supportive environment with extensive training and progression opportunities. If you are interested visit guildcare.org/jobs.

The ‘Mental Health at Work’ book can be purchased online and in store at Amazon, Waterstones, and WH Smiths starting from £7.95.