In a student led initiative Personal Attributes is proud to partner with Marr Mooditj Training and beyondblue to support a Mini Mental Health Expo at Waterford Plaza Shopping Centre running from the 29 November to 2 December (9am-5pm daily).

Diploma of Mental Health students have taken the lead to develop this expo and to advocate for and help reduce the stigma surrounding mental health. The students have been working together with their educator Tania O'Dea for the past 6 months, to find new ways to reduce the stigma that people suffering from mental illness experience every day. Reaching out to the community to share their knowledge and experiences in the hope that one day we will live in a society that accepts those with mental health issues.

The students will be sharing many messages, information and advocating support and recognition of the shame associated with mental illness in the community. They will be seeking to break down barriers that occur with discrimination, and lack of support services, and they will be sharing ways that we can work together to build rapport so that people with mental illness can be supported to live their lives well.

Shame can be overwhelming, and that is why the Diploma of Mental Health students at Marr Mooditj Training together with Personal Attributes want to "Change Da Shame", break down barriers and recognise that we can work together to support those with mental health issues in our community.

Depression can strike anyone, anytime, anywhere!

Perceptions Matter!

Let’s get personal...

Do our friends give us the important things we need?

Generally speaking, our friendship base comes from everywhere; family, neighbours, work, social, sport and school. The list could extend to the people who work in the shops we visit, hairdressers, pharmacists, doctors, dentists and so on. Some friendships flourish more because we tell certain friends more intimate details of our personal or professional self.

Strong supportive friendships have few barriers and provide an array of practical, non judgemental assistance and information that helps us obtain clarity. People who care about us for who we are can make us feel better and reduce the ever increasing risk of falling into depression.

Depression can strike anyone, anytime, anywhere. It may stay for a short while or it may linger longer than we want it to. Everybody needs friends who can provide us with different perspectives on our situations, friends who can provide emotional support but not become emotional themself and friends who can pass on suggestions and ideas to empower us to make our own decisions.

For those who have made a bucket list or have thought about making a list of things you would like to achieve, here’s something that is worth considering: Friends who make us feel worthy and that we belong should be on the list. This is one aspect of life that does not need to be ticked off; but needs constant little ticks next to it.

If we are lucky enough to have such a person or people in our life then we need to cherish this. If our friends give us the important things we need and we take with arms wide open, hopefully if the tide should ever turn for them, then we will be able to give them the important things they need. A friend

If you find you don’t have a friend at the moment with the qualities you want and need, then you can always talk to someone from

• beyondblue 1300 22 4636 or

• Lifeline 24 hours 13 11 14

Perceptions Matter!

Every situation is different and every individual is unique.

Perceptions Matter

Lets get personal...

It does not matter what job you do, everyone needs to have a certain amount of resilience to be able to handle the pressure of work these days. From a cashier to CEO of a major company, being mentally healthy is so important because it manages all the things we do.

Throughout this article there are several hints, tips and strategies that we hope will be helpful and give direction to address difficult situations.

For the past 12 months, Personal Attributes has been running training workshops about resilience in the workforce. The training is specifically tailored to the clients industry. However there is one part that remains consistent for all and that is the focus on personality verses behaviour. In this section of the workshop, the participants are encouraged to explore the difference between personalities and behaviours, and how they experience these in the workplace.

To keep it simple, Personal Attributes believes an individual’s personality is consistently reflected in their actions. In other words, mannerisms become more predictable. On the other hand, behaviour can be inconsistent and have irregular actions that are influenced by a person’s current mood. It is easier to correspond with and work alongside a person whose actions are consistent than a person who is erratic. When we are not sure if our colleague is going to be Mr or Ms Grumpy or Mr or Ms Spontaneous, then it can become a very overwhelming environment to work in.

It is easier to build resilience in the workplace when our colleague’s actions are consistent. If it is their personality that is harsh, demeaning and rude, and this is consistent from day to day and person to person, then it becomes easier to anticipate the person’s actions. When we anticipate our colleague’s actions, we can better learn to deal with their behaviour. This does not make the persons demeaning or rude actions excusable, but simply can provide colleagues with easier coping techniques to create resilience.

When a person’s behaviour is erratic, it makes it harder to build resilience. If we can’t tell what sort of a mood our colleague is going to be in from one day to the next, it puts us on edge and causes us to start walking around on eggs shells. Work colleagues whose actions are unpredictable can become dangerous, and often exhibit bullying behaviours. If specific colleagues are treated differently to others, then this erratic behaviour is not simply their personality at play. It is the person’s choice to treat people differently, and to exhibit these bullying behaviours. Inconsistencies are what cause the majority of problems. We cannot predict a person’s mood, and if we have a colleague whose moods highly influence their actions, it becomes uncomfortable in the workplace. Productivity drops because we lose focus on what we are suppose to be doing and start worrying about how we are going to be treated by this erratic person next.

So how do we deal with this constant unpredictability?

It’s not easy. If it were then we would not be discussing and learning how to address bullying in the workplace. It would not be made a focus point at “Bullying Conferences”; there would be no cause for concern with absenteeism, presenteeism, mental health break downs or high staff turnover. The workplace would run a lot smoother if employees just learned to get on and work side by side to achieve their outcomes. We are not saying that everyone has to be warm and a fuzzy friend, as that is not realistic, but we should be allowed to have our say and agree, or agree to disagree, and move on.

A way we can begin to deal with constant unpredictability of a colleague is, first we need to know our self. We need to be mindful of our own body language, tone of voice and words. We can do a self evaluation to ensure we are consistent in our behaviour and not giving them reason to react in this unpredictable way. Once we have done this we can then challenge their behaviour. For example, if Mr or Ms Unpredictable is angry yet again and they are releasing their verbal abuse, let them know that you can see that they are angry because of the way they are yelling at you or throwing things around the office and ask them why. We do not advise asking the person to calm down as this can often trigger further release of anger. Being confident to point out a person’s behaviour is scary, but not as scary as their constant unpredictability. Using the phrase “I can see you are... frustrated, sad, ignoring me, etc” we are letting the other person know that there is something wrong and we would like to know what. If you speak up when situations occur, a lot of the tension can be diffused and may prevent things escalating.

There is no quick fix to change the behaviour of Mr or Ms Unpredictable; they too need to be mindful of their body language, tone of voice and words they choose. If their erratic behaviour continues in the form of bullying, don’t give up. We need to continue to challenge their actions. It is much nicer to believe at the start that they may simply not understand that their behaviour is inappropriate and by challenging we may be helping to educate them. Should the person not engage in attempts at resolving the situation when they occur, it is important that we let the appropriate people in our workforce know or alternatively if this is not possible, seek outside assistance so we can both (victim and perpetrator) receive the support and help needed before we both become a statistic of bullying in the workplace.

It is of belief that we cannot change personalities but we can change behaviours, Personal Attributes agrees with this. We hope you have been able to take some positives out of our articles on bullying, if you have missed any they are on our website www.personalattributes.com.au. If you want to build a mentally healthy workforce you just need to ask us for our help and guidance.

Next month we look forward to presenting something new, so stay connected as Perceptions Matter!

Personal Attributes interprets the term bullying as “Constant hurtful behaviour towards another or others and not someone having a bad moment on the day.”

Let’s get personal...

My article posted on the 4th April 2016 highlighted some facts about the impact bullying has on victims. It is often forgotten that work colleagues witness this hurtful behaviour. The impact of what they see and hear has a direct affect on their emotional well being. The constant pressure the witness feels to make sure they are not the next victim in line for the onslaught is overwhelming, stressful and sad. Their own purpose and focus is misplaced and fear creeps in. They feel embarrassment and shame for not having the courage to respectfully and discretely challenge the perpetrator and stand up for their work colleague. Their productivity drops and the state of feeling miserable overrides any positivity. The cycle of absenteeism and presenteeism manifests, and the search for a better organisation to work for begins. It is without question that the impact of bullying in the workplace affects victims and witnesses, but what about the organisation they work for?

Does a bully in the workplace have the potential to destroy their organisation?

If employees do not have the skills and ability to address and defuse bullying, or if the bully is the leader of the organisation, word quickly spreads and the reputation of that organisation comes under scrutiny. It is commonly known that word of mouth is the best form of advertising; it can also be the worst. The effects on an organisation who has a poor reputation for not dealing with bullying issues impacts on their culture, reduces employability and sustainability of employees, increases employee absences, loss of productivity and, for some organisations, compensation payouts.

There are always opportunities for the appropriate people within organisations to act quickly when dealing with bullying. Like the victims and witnesses, they need to have courage to let go of their fear and take action. Sometimes engaging external resources may be necessary. The emotional and non judgmental attachment external support gives to the organisation and their employees allows for an unbiased review to be conducted. Solution focused strategies and education can then be implemented to address and stop the bullying, making the organisation proactive in the duty of care for their employees .

It is clear that bullying in the workplace impacts negatively on victims, witnesses and organisations. I would like you to spare a thought for the family and friends of victims of workplace bullying. The impact of this destructive behaviour also affects them as they try to make sense of what is or has been happening to someone they know. They watch, most of the time helplessly, as a loved one becomes unravelled. Their own emotional tug of war of what they should be doing to assist, or how to support the person being bullied, is confusing and family and friends are often left feeling bewildered and inadequate. The impact of bullying in the workplace continues to infiltrate and harm even those who are not directly involved.

Workplace bullying has vast consequences. The challenge is now up to each and everyone of us to make a difference in our workplace by being mindful of how we treat each other, the words we choose to speak, the tone in which we speak and the body language that represents our conversation. People's Perceptions Matter!

Next month's article, “Resilience Required", will provide some of Personal Attribute tips and strategies on how to build your own resilience to workplace bullying. 

To the Cancer Council and the amazing Perth Relay for Life Committee, what a wonderful 24 hours. I felt extremely privileged to volunteer with my daughter Cindy over the weekend. It was fantastic to see all the pieces of this event join together. Lead by leaders that displayed clear communication enabled the time giving volunteers to go about their duties to ensure a great time was had by all who were present. From a mental health perspective, I place emphasis on the words great time. The nature of this event has such an emotional impact. The highs of why we all attend and do what we do. Primarily raising money for research so that one day we will beat cancer. To the lows as we remember our loved ones who have sadly lost their battle or, the ones that are striving before our eyes to be a survivor of this disease. The amount of effort that goes into the orgainsing of such a huge event seems insignificant compared to the amount of effort each individual has to muster up once they have been told they have cancer.

To the energetic and purpose driven teams. Listening to the many stories of why they participate resonated closely having lost my mum, mother in law and several other close family friends over the years. People told their journeys and some teams mentioned that they have been participating every year for 16 years. From a team of 4 to teams of 20 plus, all with the same vision to carry a baton around the oval non stop for 24 hours. The effort put in by teams to display wonderful tents with bright banners stating clear messages of prevention strategies, to symbolic meanings indivudalised for their team made this event thought provoking and colourful.

There were many highlights Cindy and I witnessed during the 24 hours. One being a reassuring message that came from the team who raised the highest corporate amount for the year. The team captain advised everyone present that they would continue to participate and raise these much needed funds because they knew unquestionably that the money does go into research to find a cure for cancer.

Relay for Life 2016 is now complete. Preparation of Relay for Life 2017 is now well underway for The Cancer Council of WA, the Relay for Life Committee and the Teams that want to continue their journey of making a difference. Cindy and I will be back with the many other wonderful volunteers that also make this event what it is.

Perceptions Matter and "Hope Lives Here".

With what has been stated about how much mental health issues in the workforce is costing each year, it’s no wonder organisations are looking for ways to create and sustain a mentally healthy workplace environment.

There is an abundance of resources available from mental health providers that reassuringly all portray the same messages. If these resources explain what signs to look out for and give guidance on how to handle these delicate and sensitive situations with employees, and if organisations promote professional development to educate their employees about mental health, then it would be fair to say that we should start to see a reduction in overall costs relating to mental health in the workforce.

If only it was that simple!

Talking to organisations and their leadership teams, two things that stood out collectively from our conversations was the hardship in trying to keep up with workplace demands and to ensure their employees were okay and coping. The later always came a distant second. They disclosed that in general terms they have resources available but most of the time were not utilised. Some admitted to lacking the confidence or skills even after doing training to approach an employee who is showing behavioural signs of mental health issues in case they are wrong or make matters worse. They all admitted that they don’t have the time and man hours to do everything that is asked of them each day. This last admission I believe is a common workplace concern in most industries, if not all.

Unfortunately, time is the key factor in creating and sustaining a mentally healthy workforce. Organisations that are proactive internally with mental health prevention strategies, well done, however, caution needs to be highlighted to not put structures in place if the organisation cannot sustain them. The time and expertise needed to create change for a mentally healthy workplace, and then sustain the improvement of this change for an organisation can be overwhelming for all involved and adds to the already high workload employees encounter every day.

There is hope and fortunately, organisations who are engaging in external assistance to work with them to coordinate, and manage the creation and sustainability of a mentally healthy workplace, are realising that the favourable factors far outweigh the unfavourable factors. Bringing workforce mental health prevention specialists into the organisations working arena, is proving to be mentally healthy and is the way of the future. One of life's hardest attributes is asking for support, but when the brave finally ask, they wonder why they didn't ask earlier.

Let’s get personal...

Workplace bullying is catastrophic to victims, witnesses, family, friends and the organisation itself.

The way we feel at work constitutes our ability to perform. As individuals we understand our emotional and physical well being better than anyone. Others can read into behavioural signs and assume or guess they know what is going on with another, but in reality they have no clue unless one confides and discloses true well being. It is rare for one to disclose such personal feelings to another work colleague for fear of being judged, or fear of becoming workplace gossip should their colleague inform others in passing conversation. So more often than not the receiver of continual hurtful behaviour will suffer in silence until it is too late. The victim may start taking sick days, they may take extended sick leave, they may lodge a compensation claim, and they may quit their job or at the very worst hurt themselves or others.

The psychological impact of bulling affects the ability to concentrate and focus on tasks that need to be completed. It destroys one’s self confidence. It creates an emotional turmoil of sadness within and all this leads to physical side effects. Those who have been on the receiving end of constant bullying will know all too well the personal impact. For those who have been blessed to not come into the path of a perpetrator, pause for a moment, close your eyes and make your own list of what you believe could be some of the emotional and physical effects of being bullied in the workplace.

Perceptions matter, workplace bullying does exist and the impact is very real. Everyone can take positive action and be proactive in reducing bullying in the workplace. Education is a positive action and the following may be something proactive worth considering.

 Educate and learn what is or is not considered bullying.

 Educate and learn resilience techniques and coping strategies.

 Educate the person who is unaware that their constant behaviour towards you or others is considered bullying.

 Educate the person who is aware that their constant behaviour towards you or others is bullying and their behaviour will be respectfully challenged.

Next month’s article will highlight “the impact of bullying on workplace witnesses and the organisation itself.”

14th March 2016

WA Association for Mental Health (WAAMH), with the support of the Mental Health Commission, hosted the inaugural WA Mental Health Conference at Fraser's in Kings Park last week with many well facilitated workshops and seminars one could attend throughout the conference.

The Keynote speakers, presenters and the many delegates I listened to all sent clear messages over the couple of days. When reviewing what I learnt from the conference I came to three conclusions

1) We can talk about real issues extremely well but if collectively we do not start converting words into action, we will continue to make little progress.

2) There is a sense that at the moment we are losing the battle to educate the workforce community about mental health issues in the workplace and

3) Prevention first and action recovery processes second.

The Workplace Wellbeing Symposium was of particular interest to me. It is not until a well respected mental health professional stands before his audience and delivers the realisation that mental health workplace issues have quickly gained momentum and it is now costing Australian businesses billions of dollars each year. Employers and employees need to hear the alarm bells and start taking tiny steps to implement coordinated mentally healthy workplace practices or their business will suffer and may not even survive. I use the term tiny steps because it is a major commitment and acknowledgement for both employers and employees to be proactive in regards to managing their mental health wellbeing and to put aside the stigma attached to it.

To those employers who believe they are providing a mentally healthy friendly workplace environment, congratulations, keep doing it and always look for continuous improvement.

To those employers who are looking at implementing procedures, don’t hold off as time may cost you money.

To those employers who are still in denial that their employee’s do not suffer from mental illness from time to time and it is not costing your business. Do some research and become informed.

Most importantly to employers if you cannot sustain and develop your employee engagement strategies and action plans in relation to mental health, you may do more harm than if you didn’t start them at all. So be mindful as it is your employee’s emotions, hopes and aspirations of their workplace you are working with.

To those employee’s who have employers that look after your holistic wellbeing, embrace it.

To those employee’s who have an employer who is struggling to understand mental health issues, educate them.

Changing the existing culture of workplaces needs to be a joint effort between employer, employee and mental health professionals if we are to build a mentally healthy friendly workforce. Let’s start taking more tiny steps to build our strength to take bigger ones.

Heart pounding, muscles tense, tummy churning, tears may flow.

Let’s get Personal...

Last month we wrote about constant abrupt communication by a work colleague or colleagues. As promised, Personal Attributes will pass on three of their techniques on how you can deal with this type of bullying.

Without becoming a bully, there are ways to respectfully challenge abrupt behaviour no matter what business hierarchy level the perpetrator is. Like with all forms of education and learning, the more we practice skills and techniques, the more confident and better we become. Your heart is pounding, your muscles are tense, your tummy is churning, and you are barely holding back your tears. But you also know that this abrupt communication needs to stop - the angry words, the tone of voice, the aggressive body gestures or all of these mixed throughout the working day need to stop if you are going to be productive in your job.

When applying the techniques to help you address abrupt communication in the workplace, you need to be mindful of your own emotions and behaviour. You need to go through your own checklist because it will be natural for you to feel nervous and anxious if you decide to respectfully challenge a person about their abrupt behaviour. The checklist Personal Attributes reinforces is: 1) be mindful of your words, 2) be mindful of your tone of voice and 3) be mindful of your own body language. Words, tone of voice and body language all complement each other or they can destroy each other.

Some of the techniques Personal Attributes includes in their training are based on their “Keep it Simple Principles” KISP©”. Workplaces are busy so applying simple communication techniques to challenge and defuse abrupt behaviour is far more favourable than to do nothing at all. Bullying in the workplace is spiraling out of control and being proactive in prevention of mental health breakdown is the key for making change to workplace environments. Personal Attributes is not saying that challenging another is easy, or the techniques they reinforce are new, however it is their conscious effort in building resilience and restoring self confidence in those who have been affected.

Here are the three techniques for you to explore:

Technique 1: Respectfully challenging someone’s tone of voice.

• Go through your mindful check list

• As calm as you can, because your adrenalin will be racing, ask this question making sure you use the perpetrators name

“Are you okay (name) because you sound really frustrated and angry.”

Technique 2: Respectfully challenging someone’s words.

• Go through your mindful check list

• Again, try to remain calm because challenging can be frightening

• Always use the perpetrators name to ensure you have their attention when asking this question

“That’s interesting (name) Can I ask why would you say that?”

Technique 3: Respectfully challenging body gestures

• Go through your mindful check list

• Using the perpetrators name, calmly ask this question

“Are you okay (name) because you look frustrated and angry?”

These challenges generally instigate a reaction from the perpetrator and controlling your emotions and the urge to run and hide does take courage. Controlling your own emotions is a skill and can be learned. If we are to reduce and stop constant workplace abruptness then we need to learn and gain the courage to speak up and respectfully challenge this form of bullying.

Do you think you could respectfully challenge a colleague’s constant abruptness?

Remember, everyone’s Perceptions Matter!

Next month's article from Personal Attributes will discuss the impact of bullying in the workplace

It’s not just about our words: tone of voice and body language speak louder.

Let’s get Personal...

Personal Attributes saw the overwhelming effects of what bullying is doing to people in the workplace in 2015. One form of bullying that has been seen is constant abrupt communication by fellow staff members in the workplace. The way people were spoken to, almost on a daily basis, made them feel inadequate to complete their tasks, created nausea, caused headaches and made them feel like they did not want to go to work.

It is important to realise that people can be abrupt for many different reasons. Some triggers of abrupt behaviour are frustration, wanting work done in unrealistic time frames, wanting work completed to perfection, stress, medical problems, financial problems or wanting to feel superior. Although abruptness may be unintentional, no matter what business hierarchy position a person holds within an organisation, there is no excuse for speaking abruptly to another.

Being abrupt impacts many aspects of the working environment- it is harmful to the person experiencing it, as well as to those who witness it, and also has a negative impact on the workplace environment. Further to this, it has the potential to damage the reputation of an organisation.

Abruptness is not always about the words that are said. It is about tone of voice and body language, as they can speak louder. Being mindful of this can make a huge difference.

There is no cost for being mindful about how we speak to others...

Perceptions Matter in the workplace.

Next month's article, Speak Up - Respectfully Challenging Abruptness, will reveal some of Personal Attributes tips and strategies on how to deal with abruptness in the workplace.