Black Dog Institute
Black Dog Institute has been selected as an ABA100® Winner for Training Excellence in The Australian Business Awards 2022. The Australian Business Award for Training Excellence [TRX] recognises organisations that have successfully implemented initiatives that demonstrate leadership and commitment to education and training.
“We’re thrilled to be recognised as an ABA100® Winner for Training Excellence [TRX]. The award affirms the Institute’s commitment to providing high quality training developed from leading research.
“This year the Black Dog Institute is celebrating 20 years of impact in mental health research and turning our world-class scientific findings into real-world solutions. Delivered by experts, our skill-building training gives practical strategies to prevent mental ill-health, support recovery and promote wellbeing at work.”
“Evaluation by the Institute has shown that our training has significant positive effects on participant awareness, knowledge, confidence, and skills in relation to mental health. Among managers, an average of 83% report strong confidence to manage a range of scenarios related to their team’s mental health after completing training.”
The Black Dog Institute has delivered a highly effective evidence-based “Mentally Healthy Workplaces” training program to more than 23,000 NSW workers and managers over the past three years.
The Mentally Healthy Workplaces initiative is delivered for the NSW Government into four high-risk industries, small businesses, regional businesses, and not-for-profit organisations in NSW. It seeks to address part of the annual Australia-wide losses of approx. $39billion due to lost participation and productivity associated with mental illness.
In developing the content for Mentally Healthy Workplaces, the Institute undertook an extensive stakeholder engagement process which involved working with academics, researchers, user working groups and conducting interviews. An evaluation plan ensures the initiative is performing to meet and exceed its objectives, and continuous monitoring of outcomes with regular reporting milestones maintain the overall success of the program.
Across all training modalities (face-to-face workshop, online workshop, or self-paced eLearning) and training programs (leaders, managers, and workers), on average, 99% of participants are likely to recommend the training, 99% report likely intentions to implement their learning, and 90% rate the overall quality of the training as very good or excellent.
After training, managers report a 36% increase in mean self-rated knowledge of workplace mental health matters, while workers report a 34% increase. For both groups, this increase is statistically significant and is sustained longer term at 3-month follow up. Among managers, an average of 83% report strong confidence to manage a range of scenarios related to their team’s mental health after completing training (compared with just 41% before training).
The Mentally Healthy Workplaces initiative has been highly responsive and adaptive to the changing circumstances of COVID, developing innovative program materials that retain their salience and long-term impact – even when delivered online via Zoom or via self-paced eLearning.
Leading research by the Institute has shown the training is associated with a 10:1 return on investment and this initiative translates that to real-world impact. It sets the benchmark for at-scale, highly effective workplace mental health training in Australia, equipping workforces with the knowledge, confidence, and skills to create and maintain mentally healthy workplaces.
For more information about Black Dog Institute and the Mentally Healthy Workplaces initiative, visit blackdoginstitute.org.au/mentalhealthatwork