Strengthening mental health among managers and employees

Since the end of June, the certificate program Healthy Leadership has again been training managing directors, HR managers, and executives to promote mental health in themselves and their employees. Learn more about the expectations and backgrounds of the participants who have signed up for this training.

Group picture with participants and lecturer Dr.-med. Simon Senner during the first workshop in June.

Keeping an eye on mental health

The number of working days lost due to mental health issues is on the rise. The complexity of the working world challenges many employees. At the same time, multiple social crises are putting a strain on mental health. Many employees are reaching their mental limits. This makes mental health an extremely important topic for leaders and organizations. The good news is that companies can make an active contribution to strengthening the mental health of their employees and managers. This year’s participants took a first step in this direction during the launch of the Healthy Leadership certificate program which took place at the end of June.

What makes the Healthy Leadership certificate program particularly exciting?

The exchange of experiences with all course participants, the special focus on small and medium-sized companies, and the practical orientation of the program inspire participants.

Promoting awareness of mental health in SMEs

In addition to his general interest in the topic of healthy leadership, Dr. Josef Höfler, Managing Director, Staburo GmbH, registered for the in-service certificate program because he has observed that topics such as health, resilience, and psychological well-being are becoming increasingly important among his employees. As well, he is concerned about the challenges facing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in terms of Healthy Leadership, such as greater dependence on a small number of employees, fewer resources, and less budget for implementing programs to promote health.

Niao Wu, managing director at Onyo GmbH, also knows that “in SMEs, there is often not a dedicatedperson who oversees employee health and has extensive knowledge and in-depth experience.”  It is therefore much more often a “pragmatic learning-by-doing process,” which she would like to expand through the relevant basic knowledge & skills and the exchange with like-minded people in the seminar starting this fall.

Promoting long-term employee satisfaction

Christian Schumacher works as an IT consultant at Bettercall Paul. In his company, “massive emphasis is placed on work-life balance and family friendliness.” He would like to see additional suggestions to protect his employees and himself from burnout, for example, to recognize warning signs at an early stage and, above all, to maintain the fun at work, despite sometimes stressful project situations. After the first two days of attendance, he is confident that many of the course contents are transferable  and can be passed on  to  personnel managers in line and project functions in his company, and could be communicated broadly to the entire team.

Applying theory directly to practice

Luisa Hilf, Talent Manager at iteratec GmbH, is thrilled: “The first 2 days were very inspiring and exciting. Of course, it was all about getting to know each other and getting together. After all, the goal was to create learning groups for the future. But not only that: the first day was led  by Dr. med. Simon Senner, who as an expert, dived deep into the subject of mental illnesses with us. The second day was almost exclusively about role-playing. These were carried out with real actors in order to depict the conversations as realistically as possible. With video recordings, expert evaluations, and feedback. “Employee interviews with a mental health focus” was the focus. These were  accompanied by  expertise input from Dr. Anna Brzykcy. Finally, a keynote: Julian Leske gave an exciting presentation on the topic of “Autism – An autobiographical account of everyday life” about himself, his professional development, and the difficulties he faces every day as an autistic person. Here, too, the psyche was the main topic and the session was rounded out by an inspiring time of Q&A.”

We are delighted to be able to accompany the Summer Cohort 2023 on its learning journey to strengthen mental health in the coming months.

Do you also want to strengthen the mental health of your employees?

Sign up now for the next start of the certificate program in fall 2023. Apply now.

Support for companies in Bavaria:

Thanks to financial support from the European Social Fund, you receive full scholarships as an employee of a small and medium-sized Bavarian company. Go to program information & registration.