In Brief
| Company | Hanson |
| Industry | Cement and quarry products |
| Location | Nationwide |
| Company Size | 3,500 employees |
| Intervention | Introduction of a comprehensive Wellbeing and Mental Health programme |
| Specific challenges | Mental health became an increasing issue during the COVID-19 pandemic, but had previously been little discussed.
Reaching all employees posed a challenge, as Hanson has many sites nationwide and many employees who do not have email access at work. |
| Outcomes | Over 220 Mental Health First Aiders, and a culture of support in place for all colleagues |
Photo credit: Hanson
About Hanson
Hanson UK is a British-based building materials company, headquartered in Maidenhead. The company has been a subsidiary of the German company Heidelberg Materials since August 2007. Hanson UK is a leading supplier of low carbon heavy building materials to the construction industry.
Hanson’s principal markets are the major conurbations in England and Wales and the central belt of Scotland. Hanson have no production operations in Northern Ireland.
Hanson produce aggregates (crushed rock, sand and gravel), ready-mixed concrete, asphalt, cement and cement-related materials.
Hanson’s basic raw materials are used to make added value products:
- Crushed rock and sand is mixed with bitumen to make asphalt for road surfacing.
- Sand, gravel and crushed rock is mixed with cement to make ready-mixed concrete.
- Aggregates and cement are put into handy sized bags for selling through builders’ merchants and DIY stores.
As part of the Cement Business Line, Hanson operate three cement works, at Ketton, Padeswood and Clitheroe and three ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) mills at Purfleet, Teesside and Port Talbot.
Background
Hanson has a strong commitment to Fairness, Awareness Inclusion and Respect (FAIR) supported by its executive committee and with involvement from many employees. Mental Health & Wellbeing is one of many aspects in which Hanson provides support its employees and aims to create an open culture.
Like the construction industry as a whole, Hanson is male dominated, with women comprising 17% of its workforce. Under the FAIR activities, Hanson has an active Network of Women (NOW) and an LGBT+ network. It is planning to establish in 2023 also a Network for ex-service personnel.
During the Covid lockdown years, mental health became an increasing issue. For the first time, individuals were working from home which introduced huge challenges for managers and employees alike. However, mental health had not been much talked about prior to the pandemic. Hanson wanted to challenge the stigma around mental health, to make sure that its employees could openly broach the topic and ensure that support is provided to those affected.
In 2022, Hanson introduced a full-time role dedicated to leading Mental Health and Wellbeing for the organisation. The role came in at a critical time, and enabled momentum on the topic to build rapidly. Tracey Middleton-Lee became the successful candidate and was appointed to the role, having previously worked for Hanson for 20 years in the Service centre managing orders, distributions and leading teams.
Hanson is a nationwide company, with many sites. A specific challenge of the Mental Health and Wellbeing programme is to reach the “furthest corners” of the business, as around 1500 employees are not yet on email.
Hanson’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Programme
Mental Health First Aid
Mental Health First Aid has become a primary intervention for Hanson. Training for employees to become Mental Health First Aiders was first introduced in 2019, and there are now over 220 Mental Health First Aiders across the business. They are trained to recognise signs of mental ill health, reassure and respond, even in a crisis, and signpost to the support needed. They provide help both in person and via Teams. All of the executive team are Mental Health First Aid trained, and there is even a waiting list for colleagues due to the huge demand and desire to be helping people.
Image credit: Hanson
Professional support
Mental health first aiders provide vital first line support, but it is important to note that they are not therapists. For this, Hanson provides an Employee Assistance Programme with 24/7 professional support from counsellors. They also work with a partner organisation that provides independent occupational health support, for example for bereavement or thoughts of suicide. Tracey made over 30 referrals in the past year, with more from other MHFA’s, and this is a success of the programme.
Support to balance home and office
In response to the challenges of home working, as soon as return to work became possible Hanson introduced a policy for balancing number of days working from home and on-site.
Officers have introduced “octopuses”, which are smiley or sad faces that people can put on their screens to indicate how they are feeling. They have proven to be a good prompter for starting conversations and have been well received.
Photo credit: iStock
Support online
Hanson have created a dedicated Teams site for Health and Wellbeing that offers hints and tips, and encourages conversations. Online campaigns include “It’s Time to Talk” and “It’s OK not to be OK”.
Events
To promote wellbeing, Hanson has introduced a number of events that help people to connect and learn.
In 2022, the Family Fun day was held for the first time, and sites in Bristol, Chester and Leicester held their first face-to-face Mental Health First Aider networking days.
The CEO and senior management team make regular visits to the Hanson locations and hold in-person Town Hall Talks open for all employees. They share updates across the lines of business, and always include information about wellbeing, diversity and inclusion. They give people opportunities to talk, ask questions, and get involved.
Photo credit: Hanson
Examples of on-site interventions
The Syston office is a large site with around 300 people, with national scope across all of Hanson’s product lines. Teams are typically 10-15 people and customer-facing, working on orders, distribution and sales. Pre-pandemic they used to sit together and talk over their desks to each other. People found it much harder during lockdown with enforced working from home. Some people had no home set up, and were able to return to the office as soon as it was possible.
The site now has 10 trained Mental Health First Aiders, and have introduced wellbeing calls every Monday. It is an opportunity for people to catch up and discuss the week ahead. These calls are intended to feel as close as possible to being face-to-face, so people are asked to keep their cameras on. It lets people spot body language and be more responsive to each other.
Helping people feel safe to engage
To help people feel safe to engage with these sensitive topics, which were never previously discussed openly in work, Hanson put in place several key pieces of support.
Firstly, they spent time to prepare managers and the Mental Health First Aiders for the changes. They introduced a toolbox about the benefits of caring for wellbeing and mental health. Some employees stepped forwards to share their own stories of mental health challenges, and how they found support through the Employee Assistance Programme.
Hanson now run a Mental Health Matters course that is open for anyone to attend. It is a programme of 1 hour sessions over 6 weeks, and looks at the self, feelings and coping mechanisms. The course runs each quarter, with spaces for 10-15 people.
There are also lunch time awareness raising sessions on Tuesdays, that cover topics such as introducing what mental health first aid is, and sharing employee stories.
Behind the Scenes: Skills and resources needed for the success of the programme
Mental Health and Wellbeing Lead role
The introduction of this dedicated role has enabled a rapid acceleration of the mental health and wellbeing programme.
Tracey has been able to bring her 20 years’ experience of the business, its sites and its people to her work in this role. In her time in Hanson, she has observed the challenges and is able to channel her understanding to tackle the most important issues. The Mental Health and Wellbeing Lead role is a change from her previous responsibilities, and she has learned the skills for this role though a variety of means including webinars, networks and committees where construction firms share knowledge and learning from their wellbeing work.
This type of role can be emotionally demanding and caring for personal wellbeing is essential. Tracey has support from her manager, which is particularly important when cases are difficult. Further support from the EAP partner is also available.
Engagement and leadership from top level management
Hanson’s CEO, Simon Willis, is highly engaged in the topics of mental health and wellbeing. He is a trained Mental Health First Aider, and demonstrates leadership from the top. He leads regular business briefings, and is perceived as incredibly genuine. He is a former engineer from Yorkshire, and known as down-to-earth. His briefings are done without a script, and there is no doubt that he uses his own words. He has a great memory for people, and always remembers names and something about them.
The CEO and the executive team are known to genuinely care, and take one-to-one meetings and visits to support people. This support sets the cultural tone, and resonates throughout the business.
Executive Sponsor for the programme
The Director of Sustainability is the executive sponsor for the mental health and wellbeing programme. She makes key decisions on the budget, and gives the programme visibility at senior levels of the organisation
Support for Mental Health First Aiders
It is recognised that Hanson needs to invest in its Mental Health First Aiders. MHFAs are encouraged to buddy up for peer-support. They also receive training and coaching on self-care.
Steering Group
The mental health and wellbeing steering group was set up in 2022, and has recently increased in size. The group has helped to drive participation across the business. Hanson are looking into a charter for the steering group. A current challenge is how to involve employees from across the organisation. Time commitment is needed but this poses a greater challenge for people in operations roles.
Budget
While some of the interventions are low or no cost, others have required budget. The cost of MHFA training is £2,000 per cohort of 16 people.
Budget has also been needed for postal campaigns, to ensure messages and materials reach all workers. There are currently 1500 employees who do not have an email address, although work is in progress to implement Workday (an HR Information System) which will mean everybody will get an email address.
Other Resources
Other resources that have been procured or used by the programme include
- Health Assured: the employee assistance programme
- Sustainability School, which provides webinars, lunch and learn sessions, and a working committee
- National campaigns around wellbeing and mental health
- Menopause support
- Guest speakers
Image credit: Hanson
Partnership with Diversity and Inclusion work
Fairness, inclusion and wellbeing had been bundled together in the past. They are now treated as separate programmes, but support each other by balancing the calendar of events between both, and they partner on various topics.
Relationship with Health and Safety work
Hanson manages psychosocial risks and promoting wellbeing at work as part of its occupational health and safety management system. Psychosocial risks relate to how work is organised, social factors at work, and risks in the work environment.
Outcomes and Impacts
Through this multi-faceted programme, Hanson has made rapid change to introduce support for mental health and wellbeing throughout the organisation.
- Hanson now has 220 Mental Health First Aiders, and a waiting list for training
- There have been over 30 referrals to occupational health, to provide specialist support to colleagues
- One case resulted in preventing a suicide. The individual is now having counselling and is back in work
- Many people have contacted the Mental Health and Wellbeing Lead with words of thanks for the support
- Open mindedness has increased in colleagues, and the mental health work has supported people to go on to have menopause conversations
- The organisation’s Engagement Survey score has risen by 7%, with comments that people can talk about mental health and they feel that Hanson as an employer cares about them
- Mental health has been included as integral in safety videos
- In December 2022 Hanson was awarded ISO 45003:2021, occupational health and safety management – psychological health and safety at work, reflecting their ongoing commitment to the health, safety and wellbeing of employees.
Photo credit: Hanson
Written by Jo Stansfield