Ricoh UK launches the Mental Health at Work Commitment

Ricoh UK, Monday 9 May 2022 - Ricoh UK has this week launched the Mental Health at Work Commitment (the MHAWC). Endorsed by Business in the Community and Mind, the MHAWC is a set of actions for organisations to follow in order to improve and support the mental health of their people. 

The latest pledge reinforces the company’s ongoing efforts and initiatives to create a work culture which actively promotes and supports the health and wellbeing of all employees:

• The Wellbeing Champions programme – trained to provide their colleagues with an initial support and direct them to additional tools and resources, Wellbeing Champions are the first point of contact for employees who need help or someone to talk to, and include several employees trained as Mental Health First Aiders. The Wellbeing Champions network is also utilised to effectively support and deliver all company’s wellbeing initiatives.

• The Wellbeing Hub – a central hub to access resources, tools and training. This includes ‘Employee Assistance Programme’ – a free to use, confidential service for employees to access in case of personal, health, financial or other problems.

• Everymind Wellbeing app – a mobile application available for all employees to download, designed to provide tailored, individual experience and 24/7 support.

Following this announcement, an action plan is being developed and put in place to build on the company’s existing programmes, with a particular focus on the 6 standards which underpin the MHAWC:

• Prioritise mental health in the workplace by developing and delivering a systematic programme of activity

• Proactively ensure work design and organisational culture drive positive mental health outcomes

• Promote an open culture around mental health

• Increase organisational confidence and capability

• Provide mental health tools and support

• Increase transparency and accountability through internal and external reporting 

The action plan includes provision of mental health awareness training for all managers; creation of a wellbeing dashboard; and a job structure and organisation design review to understand whether any adjustments are needed to support employees’ wellbeing.

Marco Pezzani, Director of Customer Service and Executive Sponsor for Wellbeing, commented: ‘Creating a workplace where everyone can be their true self continues to be one of our main priorities at Ricoh. I am delighted to announce that we have signed the MHAW commitment because I know, personally, how important it is to talk about our mental health. I am very proud to support a number of initiatives that we have launched internally to address some of the challenges that we all have to face at some point in our lives. Whilst the focus of the Mental Health at Work Commitment is clearly on mental wellbeing, we continue to recognise that mental, physical, financial and social wellbeing interlink significantly, and so we remain committed to all of these aspects at Ricoh.’