Mental ill-health is the leading cause of sickness absence, creating a high economic burden. Workplace interventions aimed at supporting employers in the prevention of mental ill-health in the workforce are urgently required. Managing Minds at Work is a digital intervention aimed at supporting line managers in promoting better mental health at work through a preventative approach. This intervention was developed as part of the Mental Health and Productivity Pilot, a wider initiative aimed at supporting employers across the Midlands region of the United Kingdom to improve the future of workplace mental health and wellbeing. The aim of the study is to describe the design and development of the Managing Minds at Work digital training program, prior to feasibility testing. We adopted a collaborative participatory design involving co-design (users as partners) and principles of user-centred design (pilot and usability testing). An agile methodology was used to co-create intervention content with a stakeholder virtual community of practice. Development processes were mapped to core elements of the Medical Research Council (MRC) framework for developing and evaluating complex interventions. The program covers five broad areas: (i) promoting self-care techniques among line managers; (ii) designing work to prevent work-related stress; (iii) management competencies to prevent and reduce stress; (iv) having conversations with employees about mental health; (v) building a psychologically safe work environment. It was considered by stakeholders to be appropriate for any type of organization, irrespective of their size or resources. Pilot and usability testing (n = 37 surveys) aligned with the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) demonstrated that the program was perceived to be useful, relevant, and easy to use by managers across sectors, organization types, and sizes. We identified positive impacts on manager attitudes and behavioral intentions related to preventing mental ill-health and promoting good mental wellbeing at work. The next step is to explore the feasibility and acceptability of Managing Minds at Work with line managers in diverse employment settings.

(1) Background: The level of stress experienced by staff in the healthcare sector is highly prevalent and well documented. Self-compassion may support the health and wellbeing of individuals and enable them to stay well at work. This study aimed to understand whether a brief, online, self-guided, novel intervention improved the health and wellbeing of healthcare professionals. (2) Methods: In a parallel randomised controlled trial, a volunteer sample of healthcare professionals were assigned to an intervention group (n = 110) or a waitlist control group (n = 80). Measures of self-compassion, mental wellbeing, stress and burnout were collected by an online questionnaire at baseline, post-programme and, for the intervention group, at follow-up. (3) Results: This intervention appeared to be effective in increasing self-compassion and mental health and decreasing stress and burnout. Significant group effects and significant time × group interactions for overall self-compassion [F (2, 183) = 32.72, p < 0.001; effect size η_p² = 0.226], mental wellbeing [F (2, 212) = 17.46, p < 0.001; effect size η_p² = 0.135], perceived stress [F (2, 205) = 5.42, p = 0.006; effect size η_p² = 0.46], personal burnout [F (2, 224) = 7.57, p = 0.001; effect size η_p² = 0.063] and work burnout [F (2, 208) = 7.39, p = 0.001; effect size η_p² = 0.062] were found. (4) Conclusions: This study shows promise that an affordable and scalable intervention can be effective for busy healthcare professionals operating in a significantly challenging environment.

Mental health presents a major challenge in the modern workplace, and COVID-19 exacerbated this challenge. In this chapter, we propose the Integrated Organizational Mental Health Resilience Framework, a framework that outlines the steps needed for organizations to develop resilience against turbulence. The development of the framework is based on three case studies conducted during the height of the pandemic. The first case study suggests that primary interventions containing flexible work policies and practices need to be in place. The second case study suggests that secondary interventions need to be tailored to the emerging needs of workers during turbulent times. The third case study suggests that there is a need to review and adapt policies and practices, and provide additional support for the ‘walking wounded’ of turbulent times - in the case of the pandemic, workers suffering from ‘long Covid’ - to ensure their sustained employment.