Hunt Hospitality, who manage successful venues such as The Kent Hotel, The Duke of Wellington, Seabreeze Hotel, Finnian’s Tavern and Ocean View Hotel, have implemented a new mental health initiative across all venues with the help of NewPysch.
When one of the group’s licensees identified a few of the younger employees were struggling with depression and other mental health issues, he approached Managing Director, Stephen Hunt, to see if there was any support they could offer – which led to this important initiative.
After consulting several counselling services in the corresponding regions, the group entered into an agreement with NewPsych to provide mental health services.
Any Hunt Hospitality employee can use the mental health service, which will remain confidential.
The group pays for up to three counseling sessions on the employees’ behalf. The only information passed on is which venue the service has been requested from, or if management need to investigate any underlying issues if one venue has multi session requests.
“We went out to all the teams and encouraged them to use the service as if it’s a regular check up with their doctor,” Stephen said.
“It’s good business policy and adds to the productivity and respect we have for our staff.”
Luke Foster, Psychologist and Mental Health Advisor for mental health education program Livin, said poor mental health will affect over half of Australians during their lifetime.
This can cost businesses up to $13 billion every year.
“The good news is that for every dollar business invest into creating a mentally healthy workplace, they get an average return investment of $2.30 by reducing lost wages, absenteeism and presenteeism,” he stated.
While the service has been used throughout the last year, Hunt has seen through billing that the service has had a bigger uptake in the last few months, as work shutdowns and the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic have exacerbated mental health issues.
“It’s a necessity now, it’s got to be addressed, you’ve got to look at it as if you would any other workplace injury,” Stephen said.
“Holistically, if it helps put someone on the right path either within the industry or outside of it, that’s a victory on our end.”
IMAGE | Corey (Hunt Hospitality Executive Chef), Ben (from Duke of Wellington) and Jess (from Hunt Hospitality) (left-right).
