"Ahead of the Good Day At Work Conversation 2015, we’re incredibly excited to launch our partnership with Robertson Cooper for this event, and build this important movement to put wellbeing firmly on the corporate and public agenda. Movember started with a conversation in a pub between a few mates, which spawned a global movement, and it’s conversations that remain one of the most important things we can all do to look after ourselves physically and mentally. Unfortunately, when it comes to their health, men don’t talk, men don’t act and men die too young. Globally, men die 6 years earlier than women. Moreover, poor mental health is taking a terrible toll: three quarters of all suicides are men. In the UK that means over 5,000 men take their lives each year – that’s 13 men every single day. This is unacceptable and we all need to help develop the framework to create positive change.
Men tend to be particularly keen to dodge thinking about their health, but of course there is a very real need for both men and women to be able to engage in proper conversation about mental health and wellbeing in the workplace. We can all recognise this is an environment which plays a significant role in many people’s lives and can be a source of stress and anxiety as well, of course, as fulfillment and life satisfaction.
This is why we are passionate about helping more people have a ‘good day at work'. We’ve seen the power of the moustache working as a catalyst for change, prompting both public and private conversation about men’s health that would otherwise never happen. We are increasingly looking to add new ways to support Mo Bros and Mo Sistas throughout the whole calendar year and create a culture of openness around health. This critical conversation really is the starting point for lasting change in the perceptions of, and behaviour towards, our wellbeing.
Given that the workplace plays such a central role in people’s lives, we have a unique opportunity to reframe expectations about health. For example, there is a prevailing mindset that stress or poor physical and mental health are inevitable byproducts of the work dynamic and that they should be passively tolerated. But we believe there is a huge opportunity to step forwards to a new status quo where wellness is the collective aim and a shared responsibility for both employers and employees.
Momentum is already growing. It’s great to see many of the world’s largest employers now starting to put wellbeing at the core of their corporate strategies and recognising the value that the health and wellbeing of their workforce represents. However, whilst the leaders and management teams of organisations clearly play a vital role in fostering the right environment for prioritising wellbeing in the workplace, there needs to be a real and genuine openness amongst the workforce to engage with these opportunities in order to bring about genuine and far-reaching change.
One of the most fundamental things we’ve learnt from running Movember is that fun can be an incredibly powerful force in engaging people with serious issues relating to health and wellbeing. By rooting ourselves in fun and taking an employee-centric approach we have seen that it really is achievable to create a culture where both employers and employees are equally engaged and looking out for each other. The key will be to embed this change more broadly and ensure that the atmosphere of openness and mutual support is sustained and maintained in the long term, and that the conversation embraces mental and physical health on equal terms.
For all of these reasons, and through our huge admiration for the important work that Robertson Cooper do, we’re delighted to be partnering with the Good Day at Work Conversation this year. We will be playing a key role in the event, bringing to you insightful and inspirational speakers, as well as sparking debate and thought about the future of wellbeing in the workplace. We really feel that positive and lasting change is well within our reach and that we are living through a landmark time in the history of workplace wellbeing. We all deserve to see this change happen and it’s so exciting to be part of driving this conversation forward."
Sarah Coghlan, UK Country Director, Movember Foundation.
To reserve your place at this year's Good Day At Work Conversation and be part of this one-of-a-kind event, click here.
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