Supporting a culture of strong mental health in Northern Star’s workforce goes well beyond the suite of programs and initiatives offered by the gold miner.
At the forefront of the company’s pursuit for better mental health is rising to the challenge of contemporising mental health, with a focus on acting proactively and prioritising sustainable long-term outcomes.
“We want to truly embed strong mental health into our culture at Northern Star, so it was not viewed as a program, but rather a core part of everything that we do,” Peta Slocombe, Executive Manager – Capability & Culture, Northern Star (pictured), said.
“Our values are safety, teamwork, accountability, respect and results – it’s hard to better describe our mental health program than this.
“We focussed on bringing mental health into a care and strong team experience as opposed to focusing on stigma and shame.
“We also wanted to utilise the credibility of the peer group and not outsource mental health only to those outside of the workforce. The issue needs to be approached proactively and sustainably, not by throwing more life rafts at the problem.
“We believe this, along with the task of reducing social isolation is best solved by harnessing the mateship, collegiality and peer support that perhaps only one of their own can truly provide.”
“From our perspective, it’s time mental health brought us together instead of keeping us isolated.”
Supported by suite of programs and initiatives, Northern Star has swung the dial to normalise the issue of mental health, reduce stigma and unite people.
It focuses on proactively keeping its people safe – whether at home or at work – and doing everything as a team.
“We believe this is something that cannot be authentically outsourced as most people will otherwise never take the step to pick up the phone” Ms Slocombe said.
“We need to be accountable to the kind of culture we want to create, do this respectfully, in a way that improves outcomes for individuals as well as for the business.
It was a challenge accepted by Northern Star with passion, but it was under no illusion of its enormity considering the unique needs of its workforce stretched demographically across remote locations.
Northern Star’s approach was multi-layered with one of its flagship initiatives being a Mental Health First Aid Program.
Its success can be measured by more than 300 employees becoming internationally accredited Mental Health First Aiders.
Ms Slocombe believes this program’s focus on early intervention and a culture of accurate information, education, and instilling the confidence to notice when others may be struggling, is critical. Underground, surface crews, managers and Executive team members all stepped up to be accredited.
The GoldSTARR hub is another initiative which provides workouts, mindfulness and meditation programs, blogs, tips and articles such as sleep support, and anxiety management in a dedicated portal.
“At the press of a button they can get help with breathing, book a psychologist, do pre-bed time yoga or mindfulness, as well as high intensity workouts, boxing, abs, or doing a smoking cessation program – all correlated with good mental health, wherever they are,” Ms Slocombe said.
Northern Star also partnered with the Lysn Digital Psychology team to address two of the greatest impediments to getting mental health support: finding time to get support and having a strong relationship fit with the psychologist.
“Employees and their families relax, choose a specialist psychologist in convenient hours, speed chat to assess a relationship fit, and book short and long consultations over iPad,” Ms Slocombe said.
The company also offers a traditional phone and face to face counselling, including 24/7 crisis support, thorough its Employee Assistance Program.
Leading doctors are also available for employees and their families with complex or difficult to manage mental health issues, with access to a triage mental health nurse, psychiatrist, and psychologist to review of history and treatment for specialist second opinion.
However, the support from Northern Star doesn’t stop with employees and their families, with community support and education part of the company’s mental health and wellbeing focus.
“Supporting our people involves supporting the communities they live and work in,” Ms Slocombe said.
“We have conducted Mental Health First Aid for contractors, trained Goldfields and Fairbanks communities and family members, led involvement in the Push-Up Challenge, Blue Tree, RUOK Day and an industry video this year to encourage us to let mental health bring us closer in mining.”
With a wide range of mental health and wellbeing options available, it was no surprise that once the program was launched, courses were waitlisted across all regions and Northern Star had to fast-track implementation.
“This has been the most inspiring message to all of our workforce as demonstrate a desire to support each other and understand more than perhaps they have in the past,” Ms Slocombe said.
“A common statement in evaluations is “I wish I’d done this years ago” in reference to signs of poor mental health in themselves and those around them, and the signs they had missed.”
Ms Slocombe says 98.7% of those being trained would recommend that co-workers participate, with an average rating of 4.45/5 given by employees in being able to recognise that a co-worker or family member may be developing a mental health condition.
“These statistics alone highlight a significant step forward for the company in awareness and early intervention,” she said.
“Most powerfully, there has been a tangible increase in workplace conversations, and story-sharing about employees’ own mental health – demonstrating the program has begun to normalise the issue of mental health and unite people.”
Northern Star Resources is the recipient of the 2020 AREEA Mental Health and Wellbeing Award.
The Award Judges recognised the positive impact Northern Star’s mental health and wellbeing programs have had on its workplaces and employees.
Resource People Podcast – Peta Slocombe, Northern Star Resources
You can also check out an in-depth interview to learn more about Northern Star’s award-winning mental health and wellbeing programs and initiatives.
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