The appointment, which has been made in time for Mental Health Awareness Week, aims to “look after and best support our colleagues who may be facing difficulty with mental health and encourage them not to deal with it alone”.
This has involved training its employee relations team in “Mental Health First Aid”, with four colleagues taking additional training to teach more colleagues.
One in four suffering
Mental health has become an increasingly important consideration for employers as an estimated one in four people in the UK suffers with their mental health per year, with one of the most cited factors being stress. Whilst there are many elements to an individual’s stress, work is often mentioned as a key component in people’s stress levels.
Lisa Davies, chief human resources Officer at fourth largest mutual, Skipton, said: “Work is part of most adults’ lives and therefore our workplace is a key setting for understanding and addressing our mental health. At Skipton we believe in a workplace where everyone can thrive.
“Mental health really has become a significant issue across the world and in many circumstances all people need is a person they can trust available for support.”