Mental Health in Procurement

Just as we all have physical health, we also all have mental health. 

A conversation about mental health is however never as easy as one about physical health. Initiatives such as #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek aim to rectify this oversight. 

In support of Mental Health Awareness Week I'd like to invite you to consider what you're doing to support your own, your colleagues' and even your suppliers' mental health.

Over on my Landscaping Your Life blog this week I explore that one place in nature that helps me find balance for mind, body and soul - the local beach here in Scotland as shown below:  

In that post I ask you to consider what landscape keeps you mentally healthy? (Having a landscape that supports me when I'm out of balance is on my prescription for positivity that I refer back to in times of need.) 

Other posts over recent years where I've explored mental health at work include:

• That's just the way business is - my plea to bring our humanity to work with us, and not to condone unacceptable behaviour and hide behind "That's just the way business is".
• Let's talk about it - notes from attending a HeadTorch conference on changing attitudes towards mental health at work.  
• It's not about the Toast - notes from an earlier HeadTorch conference where a piece of interactive theatre (HeadTorch's USP) highlights the need to be aware of what's really going on.    
• Dear Human Being, with love from your Mental Health - a post card sent from our mental health. What would your post card say? And more importantly, would you listen to its advice? 
• How's your suppliers' mental health? A reminder of the stereotypical behaviours buyers exhibit that can have a dramatic and negative impact on suppliers' mental health.
• A Postcard, with love from your Supplier's Mental Health exploring the six key areas that the HSE say cause stress, and exploring what buyers can do to avoid increasing stress in suppliers in these six areas. 
• Are you a toxic leader? Not something anyone would put their hand up and admit to, and yet something I'd suggest is too easy to slip into in business, and often found where we hear "that's just the way business is".

The first of these posts says it all for me - we're human beings with continuum's of mental, physical and spiritual health. Denying our humanity, and leaving it at the office door, means these continuums are frequently compromised. Burying our head in the sand and denying their importance is counter intuitive, and is not the means of achieving a flourishing and sustainable business. 

We have a choice - ignore mental health at work and hope for the best, or embrace it's importance and ensure our actions support personal and organisational flourishing.

What can you do today to ensure your actions support mental health at work? 

Alison Smith

The Purchasing Coach

Supporting mental health at work