Mental health charity Mind state "1 in 6 workers is dealing with a mental health problem such as anxiety, depression or stress.”  The CIPD is the professional body for HR and people development who surveyed the UK workforce and found that just 42% of Senior leaders encourage a focus on mental wellbeing.

We have invited the wonderful restaurant Summerhouse Cornwall to talk to us about how they are building a healthy workplace to encourage worker wellbeing, and how they think it is impacting their business. 

1. Hi Summer House Cornwall, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what your ethos is? 

Hi! We are a female led business, believing in positivity and sustainability and hoping to change the face of hospitality from one of stress to one of wellbeing and kindness. 

We believe our employees are the heart of the business and that taking care of them should come naturally to employers. For too many years Hospitality has been known as the industry that burns people out, it’s become normal to have a high level of stress and shouting at work, with employees working crazy hours with no breaks. We want to change that, and we are working hard to do so: we run our restaurant like mums, we love and support our team, and in turn get happy hard-workers who are well rested and looked after. 

2. When did you first consider prioritising your employee's mental health?

Back in March 2022, our founder Jamie-Lee Job relaunched the restaurant after the chaos of the pandemic and ensuing lockdown. She wanted to do something different, to no longer have shouting chefs and a scary kitchen vibe, to remove the stress that comes with the service industry and to reignite peoples love for food and hospitality. She knew that the best way to start to achieve this was to keep people only working reasonable hours and to make sure they got decent time off.

3. What do you offer in terms of mental health support for your employees?

We have a private in-house counselling service: a freephone number that anyone can call which will connect them to a therapist who will work closely to listen to them or get them any help that they need. 

We are very aware of our staff and any changes in mood or circumstance means that we always touch base and sit with them to see if they need any additional support. A few times we have signposted our team to doctors or therapists in order for them to get the help that is beyond our reach. 

We often have wellbeing meetings with the team, especially after an absence or if we know that they are dealing with something difficult, this is a private meeting between the managers and the team member where we let them know they are supported and that there is help available if needed. 

Our team are all capped at 40 hours maximum working per week, unless previously discussed. Everybody gets Sunday afternoon and evening off as well as two full days  during the week. This helps massively with preventing burnout and ensures that they get valuable down-time with family or friends. We actively practise positivity and kindness and in turn the team all support each other throughout their days.

Mental Health is something we openly talk about and allow time off for.

4. What impact has this had on your staff?

They are happy to be at work! It’s a lovely and safe place to work and it definitely shows that the team enjoy their jobs.

5. How do you feel this has benefited your business? 

We are often complimented on our happy staff, its increased productivity and morale is super high. Our staff turnover is low and our sales are high.

6. Have you been inspired by the wellbeing work of other companies?

We haven’t yet met another company in hospitality who works like we do, but would love to.

7. What three tips would you give to other employers hoping to improve their workforce wellbeing?

Shorten their shifts.

 Increase positivity and in turn, morale.

Have a mental health service in place to signpost vulnerable staff to, make sure everyone knows “its ok to not be ok”.