Bespoke Mental Health Awareness Training for Managers at Plexus Law

Plexus Law is at the forefront of defendant law, delivering innovative, high-quality legal services for insurers in the composite, general, London/Lloyd’s and niche markets. We were delighted when Plexus Law’s Learning and Development team approached In Equilibrium to discuss delivering a 3-hour Bespoke Mental Health Awareness training course at their Leeds office.

Course Objectives

Following discussions between In Equilibrium’s Trainer, Dawn Hardman and the Plexus Law Learning and Development Team and Operations Director, the following key subjects were highlighted as areas to be addressed by the training:

• Stigma and Language
• Mental Health v Mental Ill Health
• Types of Mental Ill Health
• Signs & Symptoms
• Resilience & Signposting
• Boundaries & Tips

The course content was also tailored to address real issues which were occurring in the workplace, such as how to manage absence relating to mental health and how to have effective conversations with employees who are suffering from mental health conditions.

Course Format

Dawn delivered the 3-hour training course twice in one day, with a maximum number of 15 delegates attending each course.  The format included group discussion and exercises, all delivered with ‘passion, feeling and gusto.’ (in the words of one of the attendees).

Course Feedback

It was clear from the feedback that Dawn’s engaging style of training made the delegates feel confident and supported in sharing the issues they are facing on a daily basis. Here are some of the comments from the delegates:

“Dawn Hardman was fantastic at presenting this topic which potentially can be difficult and awkward but was not.”

“Dawn delivered it with feeling and gusto! It has inspired me in many ways”

“I thought the session was really useful, and interesting that the start of the session was to look at the positive side of mental health, rather than just mental health issues.”

“I found the session to have been extremely interesting and will clearly prove useful in dealing with absences as a result of mental ill health in the future.”

“I really liked how Dawn made it easy to contribute and found it interesting to see how many managers across the firm were coming up against similar issues with their teams.”

“I am really glad Plexus chose to run a course like it.” 

Action Planning

From the delegates’ feedback, it was clear that this training had inspired them to now look at compiling processes for handling more complex issues arising from employees who are experiencing mental health conditions and guidelines for managing absence. One delegate has been motivated to explore how to support their team member who has a specific ongoing mental health condition, so that the person can achieve their potential in the workplace. Another delegate suggested incorporating information about mental health in the induction process for new starters.

Further Training Options 

As this was a 3-hour course, it provided the delegates with an ‘overview’ of Mental Health Awareness.  Delegates have expressed an interest in further training in stress management and building resilience, to help them support their teams.