Sidi.io recently took part in The Working Mind (TWM) employee session.
TWM was developed by The Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) and teaches workplace mental health and wellness, as well as how employees can help reduce the stigma surrounding mental health.
“I think it’s important for everyone on the team to go through the course,” said Riaz Sidi, President at Sidi.io. “I think it’s important for the entire team to have the tools to be able to manage stress, cope, and work in this modern world.”
The four-hour course taught our team how to define basic concepts related to mental health and mental illness, recognize the impact of stigma and discuss how to reduce stigma and other barriers to carry in the workplace, keep track of changes in their mental health and well-being and know when to take the appropriate actions, have conversations about mental health and mental illness with colleagues, friends, and family members, identify and practice coping strategies to manage stress and remain resilient, and identify and use available resources to support ourselves and others.
“I think as leaders we’ve got to set the example. I was very open and vulnerable during that meeting – I think a lot of people were,” shared Sidi. “We’re going for authentic reasons and I want to lead by example by fully embracing the philosophy of what this course has to offer.”
Sidi.io’s Experience With The Working Mind
TWM training focused on eliminating the stigma around mental health and providing our team with the tools we need to help combat mental health in the workplace or at home.
Here is what some of our team members thought of the course:
“I’m very happy that the team at Sidi.io took part in TWM. It was a very educational experience,” said Jonathan Solnicki, Digital Strategist at Sidi.io.
Solnicki explained that he thoroughly enjoyed the course and would definitely recommend it to other businesses.
“I enjoyed the engagement and sharing stories and being in a safe space,” said Erica Wong, Project Coordinator at Sidi.io.
Wong said that one of her favourite parts of the course was how everyone was able to share their own experiences.
“The mental health culture is really stigmatized right now [in India]. My parents are fine but the majority of the population isn’t,” said Vasvi Balasaria, Performance Marketing Specialist at Sidi.io.
Balasaria explained that in India when someone realizes they may need therapy the response most people seem to get is ‘but you’re not insane’.
“It’s either you’re in the mental hospital or you’re completely fine and there’s no in-between,” she said.
Sidi explained that it can feel very lonely when you’re dealing with mental health issues – especially when you don’t recognize that other people are facing them too.
“By having an open discussion about it during the course, it normalizes the conversation and people realize that it’s not just them dealing with it,” he said.
How TWM Affected Sidi.io
At Sidi.io we value mental health and putting family first, after our experience with TWM we have recently created 3 new resources for our team:
- We have a directory with all the resources on our shared Google drive that anyone on the team can review at any time.
- We encourage any team member to seek support if needed using our benefits plan.
- Our team is open and available to have conversations with the team if they choose to.
We are always learning more about mental health and believe that it’s important to invest in the future of our employees.
If you are looking to build stronger relationships with your staff and reduce the stigma surrounding mental health, you can check out The Working Mind here.
