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Employing people who have “been there, experienced that” to inform innovative HRM responses to workforce mental health issues: practice insights from industry

Employing people who have “been there, experienced that” to inform innovative HRM responses to... This case documents an innovative human resource management (HRM) practice adopted by an Australian organization in the energy sector, purposefully introducing lived experience informed “mental health advocate” (MHA) roles into the organization, to address pressing mental health workforce issues. MHA roles provide experiential, first-hand knowledge of experiencing mental health issues, offering a novel, common-sense and impactful perspective on supporting employees with mental health challenges.ApproachData that informed this case came from desktop research using publicly available resources, as well as a series of conversations with four key stakeholders in the organization. This approach allowed insights into Energy Queensland’s journey towards establishing novel MHA roles to delineate the day-to-day work practice of these roles.Contribution to PracticeThis is a novel HRM practice that has only recently emerged outside of the mental health sector. We discuss key considerations that enabled the success of the roles, including taking an evolutionary perspective, obtaining support from senior executives and relevant stakeholders, making a long-term financial commitment, and providing autonomy and flexibility in role design. This is the first article that documents this innovative practice to offer new insights to HRM scholars, as well as practical guidelines to other organizations in addressing workforce mental health issues. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Personnel Review Emerald Publishing

Employing people who have “been there, experienced that” to inform innovative HRM responses to workforce mental health issues: practice insights from industry

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References (24)

Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
© Emerald Publishing Limited
ISSN
0048-3486
DOI
10.1108/pr-03-2023-0174
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

This case documents an innovative human resource management (HRM) practice adopted by an Australian organization in the energy sector, purposefully introducing lived experience informed “mental health advocate” (MHA) roles into the organization, to address pressing mental health workforce issues. MHA roles provide experiential, first-hand knowledge of experiencing mental health issues, offering a novel, common-sense and impactful perspective on supporting employees with mental health challenges.ApproachData that informed this case came from desktop research using publicly available resources, as well as a series of conversations with four key stakeholders in the organization. This approach allowed insights into Energy Queensland’s journey towards establishing novel MHA roles to delineate the day-to-day work practice of these roles.Contribution to PracticeThis is a novel HRM practice that has only recently emerged outside of the mental health sector. We discuss key considerations that enabled the success of the roles, including taking an evolutionary perspective, obtaining support from senior executives and relevant stakeholders, making a long-term financial commitment, and providing autonomy and flexibility in role design. This is the first article that documents this innovative practice to offer new insights to HRM scholars, as well as practical guidelines to other organizations in addressing workforce mental health issues.

Journal

Personnel Review – Emerald Publishing

Published: Jun 25, 2024

Keywords: Lived experience; Mental health; Human resource management; Advocacy; Diversity and inclusion; Innovation

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