Do you need a mental health audit? How well does your organisation manage mental health and stress? Are EAP’s value for money? Is your stress related absence still an issue?

Mental Health Audit 

Our complete review process covers three key areas:

  1. A review of organisational effectiveness
  2. Personal resilience – a stress risk assessment
  3. Strategy design

This process is delivered through 8 modules:

  • Organisational effectiveness is covered in the first five modules – strategic review, process review, intervention review, data review and audit presentation.
  • Personal resilience is covered in the next two modules – stress risk assessment and focus groups.
  • The final module covers the strategy workshop and draft strategy development.

The audit process is modular and can be adapted to suit each client organisation’s needs. The choice of modules is yours and will depend on the need and budget.

Popular modular options:

  • The full audit (organisational effectiveness audit and stress risk assessment)
  • Just the stress risk assessment
  • Just the organisational effectiveness audit (modules 1-5)

Running the full audit provides the following benefits:

  • A comprehensive picture of organisational effectiveness in managing mental health
  • A detailed risk assessment of personal resilience
  • It creates a knowledge bank to base any strategy development upon
  • It begins the risk management process – action plans can be developed quickly

Module 1 – Strategic review

Provides background information and understanding of the current business. This will be invaluable in understanding roles, pressures and the working environment.

  • Business functions, type of and current issues
  • Vision with employee wellbeing
  • Business and people demographics
  • Policy and strategies

Module 2 – Process review

It looks at the efficient and effective processes in place to manage issues such as long-term absence, conflict and traumatic incidents. 

  • The referral process (self-referral and management referral)
  • Conflict resolution process
  • Absence process – frequent short-term and long-term absence
  • Trauma / critical incidents (including suicide

Module 3 – Intervention review

Assesses whether the current interventions fit future needs. We will look at services such as EAP, mediation, bullying, counselling, training, proactive initiatives and self-help information.

  • Services, promotion and Pathways of interventions
  • Contract spending, account management and value for purchased interventions
  • Integration of interventions
  • Governance

Module 4 – Data review

The data review provides insights into mental health by reviewing key metrics that prove risk, track trends and assess the impact of interventions.

  • Analyse absence data
  • Identify trends/gaps

Module 5 – Audit presentation

At the end of the audit, we will produce a full report and present it to key stakeholders/champions within your organisation.

Module 6 – Stress risk assessment

We will set up an online stress risk assessment to help gauge the level of pressure and stress in the organisation. The assessment tool will cover all six risk factors – Demands, Control, Support, Relationship, Role and Change – using the same scoring method as the HSE assessment tool. We can also include bespoke questions on aspects such as signs and symptoms of stress.

  • Audit process documentation
  • Pre-audit set-up and configuration
  • Pre-audit communication material
  • Development of a bespoke questionnaire
  • Analysis of the results
  • Focus groups (as applicable – see module 7)
  • Preparation of a corporate report
  • Presentation of the main results
  • Consultation on the suggested action plans  

Reporting is also very flexible and can cover specific demographics – e.g. departments, service areas, locations, job types, pay banding, age, gender, ethnicity and disability.

Module 7 – Focus groups

Running targeted focus groups has the advantage of fully understanding pressure and stress within an organisation qualitatively. They put context behind the risk assessment findings and help plan effective interventions. Focus groups are costed separately to allow you the option to:

  • Run them in conjunction with your organisational audit or your stress risk assessment
  • Allow you to determine the most appropriate number of days for your organisation and budget

Module 8– Workshop and draft strategy development

A strategy workshop is used to review the current situation depicted by the above modules and establish a vision for the future. The outcome will be a draft strategic plan and recommended actions.