A 1,200-strong manufacturing business and a charity supporting more than 9,000 children gained new impetus for their wellbeing programmes after hearing first-hand experiences of mental health struggles in the workplace.
Regional law firm Rollits also welcomed organisations from tourism, food production, technology and professional service sectors to their Employment Workshop – Boosting Resilience in your Teams event, one of several highlights of Humber Business Week this past month.
Headline speaker Josh Connolly, one of the 海角视频’s most influential mental health advocates, told of his journey from planning suicide to seeking help with his problems and supporting people when they are feeling pain.
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Josh also revealed he was “in awe” of Ed Jenneson, a Rollits partner who heads the employment team. He presented at the event, speaking in public for the first time about what he has achieved in his career, while reflecting on his own experience of living with adult ADHD and a dyslexia profile.
Ed said Rollits decided to bring Josh to the event at the MKM Stadium after witnessing the impact he made at the firm’s annual conference earlier this year.
He said: “I spoke about equality and the requirement to consider making adjustments to procedures and sanctions because many of our general queries around misconduct and performance now have an element of disability. People start to open up in those procedures and might not have told their employers before that they are struggling with health issues.
“I also spoke about my diagnosis of adult ADHD and a strong dyslexia profile and the adjustments that have been put in place for me during my career over the last 20 years. My own experience gives me a unique insight into issues arising from hidden disabilities and neuro-diversity whilst also being an expert on the Equality Act.”
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Josh added: “Stigma is driven by silence, because when nobody is talking about it people begin to effectively lie and it becomes a big cover-up. What I am finding is that when you open up, the lie breaks for everybody.
“You find that people come to you and ask how you did it. One thing that has is that employers used to want to see a return on their investment, whereas now they see the support as their responsibility. The Generation Z people are more inclined to work with people who are ethically right. They want to know how employers are treating other people.”
Sue Allan, group finance director at holiday home specialist Willerby Ltd, said: “We have nearly 1,200 people and it’s really important to do everything we can to make sure they are in a supportive environment.
“Everybody deals with stresses and strains in their lives in a different way but they also have different superpowers and inner strengths that they can draw upon. This event was about appreciating that vast array of how different people will react to the same situation and how we can all help each other.
“We will definitely reinforce some of the things we already do because people are such a crucial part of what we do and we are always trying to find new ways to support them.”
Natasha Barley, chief executive of Hull and East Yorkshire Children’s University, said: “It’s amazing watching Josh – he’s incredible, inspirational, honest about what he’s been through and how that’s resulted in who he is.
"I really hope that we can bring Josh in to do some training with our team and work with some of our students. It will be inspirational for some of our children in care who have had the worst start in life.”
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Pat Coyle, Rollits' director of marketing and client relations, said: “We’ve been big supporters of Humber Business Week since it started 17 years ago. We always try to come up with a relevant theme, and this year’s subject picked itself!
“We brought in expertise from our own team and externally to look at redefining resilience, both personally and within the workplace, plus protecting people and organisations from the legal pitfalls arising from the Equality Act, with a special focus on the impact of neurodiversity in the workplace.
“As it was an open event we were particularly pleased that so many people made an effort to attend during a week packed with other brilliant events, and we’re delighted with the feedback which indicated that our event made a difference.”
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