FINNING’S head of customer experience and marketing has hailed the company for its pledge to double the amount of mental health first aiders in the business, after revealing he undertook the course partly in memory of a colleague he lost to suicide 25 years ago.
“I think it’s a huge stand, and a really important stand,” Peter Seaman said, before revealing to Project Plant that the mental health first aid team has grown from 28 members to 43 in just eight months, with over 120 calls being handled this year alone via the company’s dedicated helpline.
Finning marked Mental Health Awareness Week earlier this year by making the commitment to double the number of mental health first aiders by the end of 2022. The exclusive UK dealer of Cat equipment intends to train at least 15 more employees by the end of the year. They will join the likes of MD Tim Ferwerda in being certified by Mental Health First Aid England to provide confidential face-to-face and telephone mental wellbeing support to colleagues.
Revealing that each day he still thinks of the colleague he lost to suicide at the start of his career, Peter explained he was not equipped to deal with it at the time, nor could he process what had happened. Alongside experiences of family members having mental illnesses, it fuelled him to take up the company’s offer of becoming qualified to help any colleague struggling.
“I wish things like mental health first aid training had been around and more prevalent in society (back then) as it is today,” he said. “Mental health has been integrated into Finning’s health and safety culture. It’s been normalised; we talk about it in the same way as physical health. It’s discussed at board level in the same way, we’re investing in it in the same way, and it’s communicated in the same way.”
Peter believes the training has changed him as a person. He revealed that, despite his own experiences, he never actively thought of mental health in the way he does now. He regularly talks to colleagues about how to promote good mental health and the importance of looking out for signs of a member of staff who may be struggling. The training has also ‘stoked a fire’ within him to continue his learning, with Peter doing further research and studies into mental health during his spare time.
Although Finning has managed to get a significant number of staff trained in a relatively short period of time, the logistics behind it cannot be underestimated. Employees have had to be taken out their day job to undergo the extensive training which includes reading academia and case studies, as well as putting their learnings to test in a practical environment. Furthermore, it also involves regular meetings to discuss the strategy and work.
“Credit has to be given to our leadership team as they’ve done a great job in supporting the organisation in adapting and adjusting jobs to make time to invest in this,” Peter said. “I think it sends a massively important message. We’re not just paying lip service to it; we’re actively doing something about it. It legitimises it – and it’s about cultural change and creating the right environment for everyone to be able to talk in, rather than it just being: ‘We’ve got a mental health first aider, tick the box’.”
Moving forward, Peter anticipates the benefits of the programme will continue to be shown, particularly as more colleagues become qualified – with active discussion ongoing on designing a positive mental health and wellbeing workplace environment.
“The good part is that we’re not just doing it (the training) once and moving on, we’re keeping that group interacting, developing, learning, and expanding their knowledge and experiences over time – and indeed supporting each other,” Peter added. “If you’re supporting someone with mental health issues, that can also have an impact on you as an individual so it’s important that we support each other as well as our colleagues across the organisation, that ongoing networking and supporting.”
