Award Categories

This award recognises workplaces with over 750 employees who have implemented an exceptional strategy to strengthen mental health in the workplace. Entries should consider:

-  how strategies are implemented from top to bottom,

-  successfully breaking stigma around mental health with executive buy-in and resulting in company-wide cultural change

-  delivery of measurable improvement and success

Entrants should also demonstrate an inclusive, preventive and supportive approach to mental health and wellbeing. This could showcase how considerations around mental health are reflected in a strategic approach and wider policies and systems that flex to the needs of all employees, for example, recognising that good mental health cannot be taken for granted by encouraging reasonable adjustments and flexible working.

This award recognises workplaces with less than 750 employees who have implemented an exceptional strategy to strengthen mental health in the workplace. Entries should consider:

- how strategies are implemented at all employee levels,

- successfully breaking stigma around mental health with senior buy-in and resulting in company-wide cultural change

- delivery of measurable improvement and success

Entrants can demonstrate how a smaller organisation which may not have in-house wellbeing expertise has used outside resources successfully to integrating mental health into wider wellbeing strategies.

This award recognises workplaces who have successfully implemented a strategy to strengthen mental health in their workplaces in two or more countries. Entries should consider:

-  how strategies are implemented at all employee levels

-  successfully breaking stigma around mental health with senior buy-in and resulting in company-wide cultural change

-  delivery of measurable improvement and success

-  recognising local and cultural differences in the implementation yet achieving a holistic approach throughout the different countries

Entrants should also demonstrate an inclusive, preventive and supportive approach to mental health and wellbeing.

This award will be given to a workplace that has recently recognised explicitly the importance of addressing mental health in the workplace and within the past 12 months has taken first steps to change the culture at the workplace via a holistic and focussed approach to maintaining and improving the mental health of all employees.

Due to limited time for benefits to emerge for companies at this stage of their mental health journey, judges will not solely focus on outcomes but will consider the impetus and process behind the initiative and the action plan to deliver it.

This award is aimed at motivating and celebrating those teams - including project teams - who have a positive impact across their workplace. Whether large or small, the team - which could represent HR, Wellbeing and/or Diversity/Inclusion functions - should demonstrate that they have been crucial in driving the implementation of mental health and diversity/inclusion initiatives and strategies and delivering measurable results for their workplace.

Many workplaces have established peer networks in their workplace to support fellow colleagues and drive change. These include mental health first aiders, ambassadors, champions or advocates who commit to supporting colleagues in addition to their day job. This category looks to identify networks that can demonstrate how they have been instrumental in supporting colleagues in the workplace and give examples of how their network has been a success.

While implementing mental health strategies and policies can be a tough task in itself, communicating those strategies is even more important to ensure employees and other external stakeholders - such as customers, contractors and suppliers - know about it. This category looks for the best internal or external mental health communications campaign. This could include areas such as the importance of not taking good mental health for granted and/or the need to have positive conversations about mental health in the workplace.

This category celebrates mental health campaigns and initiatives that workforces have implemented for either (a) a specific group of employees (b) a specialist initiative to solve a particular workplace challenge for example addressing working from home, furlough, Men and Mental Health, Addiction at Work, Menopause in the workplace, stress in the workplace. Entries should clearly outline the target group or issue addressed and demonstrate how the initiative reached and improved the situation for the target group or solved the challenge. 

This category recognises the impact of a product that assists organisations with their workplace mental health programmes. Products can include but are not limited to physical products, courses and technological products such as apps. Entries should be submitted in the form of 2 case studies and demonstrate how the product is supporting mental health in client organisation(s), including the results and impact it achieved. Approved client testimonials will be required for this category.

This category recognises consultants, trainers or agencies who can demonstrate that their work with their client(s) has delivered a successful and implementable strategy. This category is looking for the outstanding mental health consultancies, trainers and agencies that help develop and implement mental health strategies together with their clients. This category looks for best in class work that clearly demonstrates how their work has led to breaking down the stigma around mental health. Judges will be looking for tailored strategies, evidence-based action plans and the delivery of measurable improvement and success.
Entries should be submitted in the form of 2 case studies and client testimonials will be required for this category.

Nominated by their company, this category recognises those senior leaders within HR / Wellbeing / D&I/ OH who have truly led from the front to banish stigma around mental health and who have actively campaigned within their organisation to ensure colleagues are appropriately supported by their employer.

Nominated by their company, this category recognises those C-Suite / senior executives / directors  who have truly led from the front to banish stigma around mental health, and who on top of their day job went above and beyond to advance the mental health in the workplace agenda within their organisation to ensure colleagues are appropriately supported by their employer.

This category recognises an individual who has inspired their workplace by breaking stigma around mental health as well as growing awareness of how a workplace can focus on positive mental health. This role should be in addition the individual’s ‘day job’ and they can be nominated by their company or colleagues.

Nominated by their company, this award recognises a young future leader who has already made an impact on mental health in their workplace and is paving the way for a better workplace of the future. Nominations are free for this category.

This category recognises those organisations that have gone above and beyond to support their employees through the pandemic. From making them feel safe in the workplace or supporting them at home. How were internal comms used and if staff were furloughed how were they supported too. Winning entries will demonstrate how they kept employees’ mental health at the forefront of their efforts, managed to uplift spirits and successfully supported their employees and management teams throughout 2020.

This category recognises those organisations that stepped up to provide support to during the pandemic. Uncertainty and anxiety affected mental health around the world and there were many communities that needed help which drew great responses from organisations. These are the companies we want to celebrate. This could be companies that have supported their nominated charities, looked after their supply chain and customers, made their products/services more accessible to those who needed them, created new products/services or initiatives that helped their customers, the general public or certain affected subgroups, such as meal deliveries to hospitals, donations to foodbanks or offering complimentary counselling.

This award is looking for nominations for the COVID-19 Unsung Hero. This person went above and beyond to support others (could be colleagues or within their communities) through the crisis and made a positive impact on their surroundings. Their efforts to solve the pandemic’s mental health challenges served as powerful examples of how to make a positive difference. Nominations are free for this category.