Workplace mental health isn’t just about avoiding burnout or ticking a compliance box—it’s about unlocking the true potential of your people and your organisation. When mental health is prioritised, teams become more innovative, collaboration flourishes, and resilience grows. At Glia, we help organisations achieve this transformation through evidence-based strategies like psychosocial risk assessments, leadership training, and burnout prevention support. Ready to create a workplace where your people thrive?
"Combating Loneliness in an Ever-Changing World: The Power of Workplace Friendships"
In today’s fast-paced, remote-first world, loneliness is becoming a silent epidemic—and it’s spilling into the workplace. But there’s good news: friendships at work can change everything. From reducing stress and boosting resilience to improving job satisfaction, genuine connections with colleagues are more than just a nice-to-have; they’re a must.
In this blog, we explore the science behind workplace friendships, how they combat loneliness, and why they’re crucial for both personal wellbeing and professional success. Whether you’re a "blender" who thrives on work relationships or a "separator" who values clear boundaries, investing in the people around you is key to creating a thriving workplace culture.
Read the full blog to discover why workplace friendships matter more than ever.
Is my attention span rubbish? Is social media making me lonelier? Could it impact my kids?
These questions have been on my mind, especially as a parent and psychologist. Taking a break from social media recently made me reflect on its effects, not just on individuals but on workplaces too. Research shows social media can impact our attention, stress, and mental health—often subtly, but significantly.
With the right boundaries and awareness, we can harness social media's benefits while safeguarding our wellbeing. Perhaps it’s time to look closer at how it’s affecting us and consider what changes we might need.
Leading Through Language: Transforming Teams with Positive Communication
Did you know that the words you choose can shape your team's mindset, productivity, and overall wellbeing? In this blog, I explore the powerful impact of language in leadership and how positive communication can transform not only your team but your workplace culture. Discover practical strategies to reframe negative language, boost morale, and create a thriving, engaged workforce. If you're ready to lead through language, this is for you.
Feeling overwhelmed about the future? You're not alone. Anxiety can creep up in all areas of life—whether at work, home, or in social settings. In this blog, I share three simple, practical techniques to help you recognise anxiety and find calm amidst the chaos. From breathing exercises to reframing your thoughts, these strategies are designed to help you manage anxiety whenever it strikes
In today’s fast-paced world, leaders often chase flashy solutions that promise quick results. However, true success lies in the understated, "beige" strategies that foster resilience and sustainability. Drawing inspiration from the story of blue crabs, we explore how enhancing your organisational environment can lead to thriving teams. Join us as we uncover practical steps to create a supportive ecosystem that empowers your workforce and drives long-term success.
We've all heard the saying, "Do what you love, and you'll never work a day in your life." But the reality is often quite the opposite. When you're passionate about your work, you might end up working harder and longer, pushing yourself to the brink of burnout. Passion-driven professions like teaching, healthcare, and leadership are especially at risk. So, how can you protect your well-being while still doing what you love? Recognizing burnout, taking regular breaks, and incorporating play into your work are just a few steps that can help.
Workplaces are like gardens, and leaders are the gardeners. Just as different plants thrive in varying conditions, employees perform best in environments that suit them—whether that’s the office or working remotely. The debate over where we should work rages on, but the real question is: How can we create a work environment where everyone thrives? Balancing the flexibility of remote work with the collaboration of office life is key, much like finding the right balance of sun and shade for a flourishing garden.
We all face setbacks, but how we respond can make all the difference. Discover the psychology behind resilience and learn how to turn obstacles into opportunities for growth. In this blog, we explore key psychological principles like the Three P’s of setbacks and cognitive biases, offering practical strategies to reframe your thinking and embrace positive psychology. Whether you're navigating personal challenges or leading a team, these insights can help you bounce back stronger.
Read more to unlock the secrets of overcoming setbacks and fostering a resilient mindset.
Psychological safety is often misunderstood, but it’s essential for a thriving workplace. It means creating an environment where people feel comfortable speaking up without fear of negative consequences. Imagine being able to share ideas, admit mistakes, or take risks at work without worrying about judgment or backlash. When psychological safety is present, employees are more engaged, innovative, and committed. It’s not just about feeling safe—it’s about building a culture where everyone can truly contribute and be themselves.
Imposter syndrome is a common experience, even among the most successful individuals like Tom Hanks, Serena Williams, and Michelle Obama. In our latest blog, we explore how these feelings of self-doubt can actually become a powerful tool for personal growth and achievement. Learn how to shift your mindset, recognize your true worth, and leverage those imposter thoughts to fuel your success. Whether you're a leader looking to create an inclusive environment or an individual battling self-doubt, this blog offers actionable insights to help you thrive.
Read more on how to conquer imposter syndrome and turn it into your secret weapon for success.
Deciding whether to leave a job is rarely straightforward. There are countless factors to consider, and the weight of these decisions can often leave us feeling paralyzed. However, when our mental health and overall well-being are at risk, it becomes crucial to evaluate whether it's time to move on or develop coping strategies to manage the situation effectively.
Organisations have been using EAP for many years now, but is this model working for the modern work environment? In this blog we look at two alternatives to EAP in how to create a workplace that is healthy and sustainable. Leadership development and Professional Supervision are two options that are both in the preventative and sustainable space.
Experiencing happiness at work isn’t a matter of stumbling upon the profession that is ‘perfect’ for us and then riding that wave of joy into retirement.
Rather, like wellbeing, happiness is made up of a bunch of different components that can be experienced in many different jobs and workplaces.
So what are the key factors that we can apply to different jobs to have a better chance at finding happiness at work?
Workplaces can be the drivers of positive mental health outcomes.
We live in a world where a huge number of people suffer from mental ill health and access to help is poor. As employers, why not go a step further from just ‘not making things worse’ to actually making things better?
Creating social-connectedness at work is one opportunity for leaders to impact their people positively. Loneliness experienced at home can seep into the workplace and leaders have the power to not only prevent work-based loneliness, but combat loneliness overall.
Workplaces can be the engines that drive a socially connected world.
How can leaders create an environment that fosters social connection?
Whether it’s a restructure, a new senior hire, cost-cutting measures or a change in direction, organisations know change is a normal part of maintaining a successful business.
And yet organisations mess it up, creating disgruntled employees who fight them every step of the way - even when the new ideas are good and have the potential to help everyone.
Why is organisational change so hard?
And how can leaders do it well?
What is one thing a bunch of workplace psychologists all have in common?
We don’t do New Year’s Resolutions.
There’s a few reasons for that.
Some of us find they just don’t stick.
It’s not because we lack willpower.
We’re workplace psychologists. We know the theory behind making changes stick.
We’re workplace psychologists, and we don’t do New Year’s Resolutions.
So what do we do to set our intentions for the year ahead?
Circuit breakers are a simple solution to a potentially deadly and costly problem. When a circuit trips, we simply open the fuse box, flick a switch, and providing there is no deeper fault going on, we reset the system.
Now, imagine if we could do this with our brains. How much potential damage to our mental and physical health could we prevent if we had an automated switch that simply cut off the power to our unhelpful thought patterns before they escalated to breaking point?
Most people are familiar with the terms burnout and stress, and have an understanding of what poor workplace mental health looks like. But what is it that we are aiming for? What does a psychologically ‘well’ workplace look like?
Mental Health - we all have it, and yet it can be difficult to talk about, especially at work.
October 10th 2023 is World Mental Health day and the theme this year is ‘Mental Health is a universal human right.’
How do you actually bring up the topic? Or, if someone else lets you know they’re struggling, how should you reply?
In our last blog we covered how to identify burnout risks, and how to protect yourself at the recruitment stage by spotting which organisations or job roles might pose a high risk to individuals.
In this blog, we will cover some of the steps that individuals can take to lower their burnout risk and protect their mental health at work when they find themselves in a job role or organisation that may present a higher risk.
Perhaps the best thing an individual can do to avoid burn-out is to work for an organisation that has a robust Psychosocial Risk Management plan in place to support positive workplace mental health outcomes and protect their workers from chronic stress.
But how can you choose the right job? And what other practical steps can individuals take to protect themselves from burnout and feel good at work?
Mental health advice around change often centres on how to start or how to stop doing something: New Year’s Resolutions, Change Management, addiction cessation or the addition of new, positive habits.
We are frequently encouraged to step out of our comfort zones and embrace a growth mindset.
Proactively seeking change can help us to grow, learn, and develop.
Learning about how neuroscience impacts behavioural change is not only fascinating but gives us tools to make habit creation and habit cessation less painful and more efficient and rewarding. We covered some main points on this topic in part 1 and part 2 of our Change blog series.
But proactive change is not the full picture. At times, change is simply thrust upon us, and it isn’t always good.
In part one of our guide to change we looked at the ‘stages of change’ model. In part two, we will consider five practical strategies to successfully facing change and how we can apply those change strategies in ways that benefit both our performance and our mental health.
Here are five keys to change that we can keep in mind the next time we are either faced with change, or we decide to strive for change.
This is the first in a three-part blog series about change in which we will cover: The Psychology of Change, a Practical Guide to Change, and How to Manage Change (in both yourself and others) while minimising negative mental health outcomes and optimising positive ones.
Change is a constant throughout our lives, and change can impact our mental, physical and emotional health in a myriad of ways.
it can be helpful to separate all of the cultural and mental clutter that surrounds goal-setting and behaviour change and figuring out how best to do it, when and how you want to and are able to, and not because an internet personality who exudes the scent of bran flakes while they do burpees at 5am makes you feel like you would somehow be a better person if you could force yourself into the same habits.
The school holiday / work juggle struggle is real.
Whether you are a working parent managing stress, or you wish you had more time to spend with your kids, this blog covers mental health tips to help you stay grounded and anxiety-free at work and home during the school holidays.
Worrying can impact our mental health at work significantly, and has been the subject of sage advice for centuries.
Inspirational quotes about improving your mental health by simply ‘not worrying’ are easy to find, but much more difficult to put into practise.
Can you control worrying by simply choosing not to worry? And if so, how?
In this blog we will explain in simple terms what worry is, how you can control worrying, and how you can work and live your life despite having things to worry about.
Burnout: a state of mental and physical exhaustion, characterised by feelings of cynicism, depletion and distance from our work.
AI: the simulation of human intelligence by machines, and used for everything from data analysis to customer service and even creating art and writing romance novels.
Can Artificial Intelligence help us to beat burnout, and regain our sense of humanity at work?
Developing strategies to increase opportunities for social connection is a major research concern that is impacting public health policy globally at multiple levels; from the design of community living spaces to employment regulations, public health campaigns and how we harness technology.
What can individuals do to ensure they are getting the social connection they need for mental and physical wellbeing?
Firstly, establish how much social connection you need.
Every good leader has been a bad boss at some point.
The truth is, we’re all a mixture of good and bad qualities and leadership often falls upon us by accident.
Managers - be they good leaders, or bad bosses - have a profound impact on their teams.
So what makes a bad boss, and what makes a good leader?
How can bad bosses become good leaders?