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To continue our Mental Health Month series we have partnered with Go1 content provider Thrive Learning to explore empathetic leadership, how it impacts organizational performance and the complexities of learning to lead with empathy.  

Catalyst, a global nonprofit that drives workplace inclusivity for women, describes an empathetic leader as someone who demonstrates care, concern and understanding for their employee’s life circumstances.  

We recently discussed the prevalence of burnout at work, and its risk to the performance and retention of employees (you can read that article here). More than ever, staff are re-prioritizing their needs from work and focusing more on balance, support and flexibility.  

Equipping leaders with empathetic skills is increasingly imperative to an organization's performance. 

Strategic importance of empathy at work 

Recently heralded by Forbes as a leader’s most important skill, empathy has long progressed from being underestimated at work. When a team is being led empathetically, they are more adaptable, innovative, inclusive, resilient and likely to stick around. 

No organization is immune to change or challenges, and the ability to adapt has become even more crucial over the last two years. Microsoft chairman and CEO Satya Nadella recently called out empathy a necessary for leaders to discern flexibility, particularly when navigating hybrid ways to work.  

Empathy also heavily influences engagement levels. A recent survey by Catalyst found when employees have highly empathetic senior leaders, 76% of them report being engaged at work often or always. This number plummets to 32% when senior leaders demonstrate low levels of empathy. 

Ensuring leaders are trained efficiently in leading with empathy, including having difficult conversations, negotiation, respect, inclusion and flexibility; empowers the workplace for both stronger performance and more effective change. 

To begin with, let’s appreciate that 'increasing empathy’ needs to go hand in hand with a wider focus on any required culture changes. There is limited point in up-skilling empathy if toxic conditions or relationships are not simultaneously tackled. Negative work relationships will impact an employee's work performance up to 4-7 times more than any positive, enthusing ones. 

Open and respectful communication is one of the driving forces of empathetic leadership. This communication must go both ways. A Tiny Pulse survey found that employees who feel uncomfortable giving feedback to their managers are 16% less likely to stay at the company.  

Thrive Learning focus on the importance of not only active listening but responding with empathy in their training course, Listening with Empathy. They describe empathetic listening as: 

Listening without judging, and the intention of fully understanding where the other person is coming from. It isn’t about listening so you can reply, it’s stepping into the other person’s shoes to better understand how they might be feeling too. 

Communications Consultant Patti Sanchez has found that during times of change, employees are impacted more by how information is communicated than what the information actually is. She notes that a lack of audience empathy when conveying the news of an organizational change can cause it to fail.

Thrive Learning’s course Leading through Change within the Go1 Content Hub (teaser video below) equips learners with compassionate management skills to help teams respond and adapt to change. They focus strongly on communicating effectively with teams, alongside interactive scenarios.

Helping your team through change

Learning how to lead empathetically is not as simple as reading an article and ticking a box. There are no ‘quick fixes’ to leading empathetically. Brene Brown, in a recent podcast with Organizational Psychologist Adam Grant, stated that, “there is no hack to becoming an authentic or empathetic leader, it's about understanding and seeing people." 

When leaders embrace practical learning to increase their empathy skills, and pair this with authentic curiosity, care and compassion for their team, they will see organizational results. 

A workplace full of empathetic leaders will not only foster respectful workplace relationships, but will drive an innovative, resilient, inclusive and adaptable culture. 

For the month of October, we will continue providing insight and content around mental health subjects and struggles within the workplace. To assist you and your team in developing a comprehensive workplace mental health plan, we have curated a free Leading with Empathy playlist of learning resources within the Go1 platform. 

The playlist includes learning content from Thrive Learning, Mind Tools, Blinkist and other mental health providers. If you are already a Go1 customer, you can recreate this playlist in your own LMS or Go1 Platform. If you are not yet a customer, click on the link above to access the playlist. If you're interested in the Go1 Content Hub for your organization's wellbeing and L&D goals, please get in touch with us today. 

Please remember, if you are struggling with your mental health and experiencing significant distress, we encourage you to reach out for immediate support.
Australia: Lifeline 131 114 or Beyond Blue 1300 224 636 
USA: NAMI HelpLine 800-950-6264
UK: Samaritans 116 123 or Shout Crisis Text Line text ‘SHOUT’ to 85258
Global: United for Global Mental Health Regional Directory

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We look into how empathetic leaders can transform organizational performance and the complexities of learning empathy as a leadership skill.  

Learning to lead with empathy

In 2019, the World Health Organization reclassified burnout as an occupational phenomenon, describing the syndrome as ‘resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.’

Workplace stress is something we all experience, whether it's in the form of heavy workloads, tight deadlines or workplace culture, which can all contribute to us feeling pressured at work.

But when this stress becomes long term, and pointedly, unsuccessfully managed, we can arrive at the point of burnout. This point will look different individually, but commonly is identified with:

In a recent TED talk, Dr. Emily Nagoski and Dr. Amelia Nagoski simplified this by describing burnout as, ‘where you can show up for work, but you spend your whole day fantasizing about being at a different job.’

When burnt out, your work performance will often take a considerable hit, but along with your ability to care much about it. 

Concerning figures show how prevalent burnout has recently become. A Gallup study of 7,500 full-time employees found 23% of them felt burnt out at work either very often or always, and an additional 44% reporting the feeling sometimes. That’s a staggering 67% of workers experiencing burnout at work. 

With burnout comes detachment, or mental distance, from the role. This may be one of the strongest triggers for what’s been dubbed globally as The Great Resignation. 95% of Human Resource leaders are admitting that employee burnout is sabotaging workforce retention. 

So with such high prevalence, what can we actually do to tackle burnout, as employees and leaders? 

Recognizing burnout, and its triggers, as employees

With blurred lines between work and life, many of us have felt emotional demand and disruption around the clock for the past two years. The pressure to show up both at work and for our families can result in a disconnect between our behaviors and inner struggles. 

Within crisis moments, many of us tend to push through emotional reactions and put our brave face on. This approach, particularly over a long period of time, can seriously diminish our psychological wellbeing and contribute to the risk of burnout. 

In her TED talk, Dr. Amelia Nagoski noted that “one of the things that causes burnout is our inability to recognize the hard stuff welling up inside us.”

Beyond Blue, a Go1 mental health content partner, suggests tracking your mood to help identify what things at work are impacting your stress levels. Knowing what is contributing means you can then investigate strategies to help manage it. 

Within the workplace, research has found some common factors that frequently correlate with burnout. These include:

Lack of communication and support from managers

Looking at each of these factors, ask yourself if any resonate with your current work experience. Have any of these resonated for an extended period, without signs of improved management? 

Tracking or identifying these risk factors means you can now not only start implementing stress management strategies yourself, but also take your concerns to your team and leaders to assist in changes being made. 

What can we do as leaders to address or prevent burnout within our team?

Stress may be present in every workplace at some level but it still poses a threat to employee health if not identified or managed properly. When it comes to burnout, the responsibility of prevention or recovery sits significantly with leaders, and particularly with direct managers. 

When a workplace fails to manage the risk of burnout, its employees will either stop progressing, or start looking elsewhere.

Managers should keep an eye out for some of these early signs of burning out, including:

Changes in demeanor. Sometimes it’s little things but your team members may appear recognizably ‘off’.

Body language (if you’re still seeing staff in person) can be a reliable indicator of mood. 

Changes in attitude towards work and changes in productivity can be signs that a team member has started disassociating from work.

If a staff member or colleague has a noticeable change in mood or seems to be struggling with workload, that’s a fair reason to check in with them. You may find they are navigating balancing general life stressors as well as work. However, while you help support their overall wellbeing, this can be the ideal time to ensure they are not experiencing any of the common burnout stressors described above, such as unmanageable workload or lack of role clarity. 

Ignorance is not key here. Education around burnout, stress management and recovery support are the foundational steps towards leaders creating mentally safer work environments.

For the month of October, we will continue providing insight and content around mental health subjects and struggles within the workplace. To assist you and your team in developing a comprehensive workplace mental health plan, we have curated a free Managing Stress and Burnout playlist of learning resources within the Go1 platform. 

The playlist includes learning content from Beyond Blue, Mind Tools, Mental Health Movement and other mental health providers. If you are already a Go1 customer, you can recreate this playlist in your own LMS or Go1 Platform. If you are not yet a customer, click on the link above to access the playlist. If you're interested in the Go1 Content Hub for your organization's wellbeing and L&D goals, please get in touch with us today. 

Please remember, if you are struggling with your mental health and experiencing significant distress, we encourage you to reach out for immediate support.
Australia: Lifeline 131 114 or Beyond Blue 1300 224 636 
USA: NAMI HelpLine 800-950-6264
UK: Samaritans 116 123 or Shout Crisis Text Line text ‘SHOUT’ to 85258
Global: United for Global Mental Health Regional Directory 

In collaboration with Beyond Blue, we look at how to better understand, prevent and recover from this occupational phenomenon.

What can we actually do about burnout?

We are excited to announce a global partnership with Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning aimed at helping organizations develop future leaders with high-quality, world-class leadership solutions. 

“Leadership and learning matter more than ever as we strive to remain agile, collaborative, and productive in today's environment. Today’s leaders want learning that builds skills for the future, and our partnership with Go1 will help address specific business challenges across any industry,” Ian Fanton, Harvard Business Publishing Executive Vice President and Head of Corporate Learning, said.   

With this announcement, Go1 users* can now access Harvard ManageMentor to build skills in leadership and management that reflect the most timely and timeless ideas. Leveraging this impactful and engaging experience, learners can unlock their leadership potential through important topics such as global collaboration, strategic thinking, change management, finance essentials, digital intelligence, innovation, and more. 

“We’re proud to partner with Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning, a globally trusted and respected brand in business and lifelong education. The courses are continuously updated to keep up with the pace of change, which means learners will always receive materials with real-life, positive impact and have access to on-demand resources featuring industry experts,” Basem Emera, Go1 Vice President of Partnerships and Alliances, said. 

Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning has had over 25 years of success in delivering their learning to the world's biggest brands. Each learning experience leverages the remarkable depth and breadth of Harvard Business School and Harvard Business Review resources, industry experts, technology-enabled and user-friendly solutions, and a creative, collaborative mindset to help learners discover something new. 

Get in touch if you would like to learn more about this partnership.

*Smaller organizations using Go1, with some geographic restrictions, can access Harvard ManageMentor as part of their premium subscription to the Go1 Content Hub. 

We are excited to announce a partnership with Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning helping develop leaders with high-quality leadership solutions.

Partnering with Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning to develop future leaders

Partnering with Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning to help future leaders develop their skills through high-quality leadership solutions.

At any one point, a third of working-aged Australians are either struggling with a mental illness, or symptoms of mental illness. Leaders are considering not only how this affects their business, but how the organisation itself is impacting the wellbeing of their employees.  

Some estimates see workplace stress causing as much as 50% of voluntary employee turnover and 60% of absenteeism. An understanding of contributing factors towards workplace stress, known as psychosocial hazards, is something Dan Hunt, and the team at Mental Health Movement, are passionate about addressing. 

Why is mental health education in workplaces important? 

Why is Mental Health education in workplaces important?

Though some psychosocial hazards might be seen as a common aspect to a role, such as the emotional toll on first responders in an emergency, they still require risk-management and mitigation within the organisation.  

Less obvious but common psychosocial hazards in the workplace include under-utilisation of employee skills, low role clarity, high noise levels and a lack of training to support job performance. Understanding your organisation’s psychosocial hazards is a crucial step towards developing an effective mental health strategy.  

Mental Health Movement surveyed 5,700 working Australians to gain a better understanding of the factors leading to poor mental health, the barriers to seeking support and the general state of mental health understanding and stigma. From this they developed their Mental Health Blueprint, covering four stages of Awareness, Education, Training and Resources.    

Through their work with over 100 Australian companies, Mental Health Movement have noticed the power that personal story has on employee’s attitudes towards mental health and seeking support. When leaders share their own vulnerabilities, it gives employees permission to show theirs, influencing a more connected work culture with reduced stigma.  

So when developing your organisation’s mental health framework, don't under-value the impact leadership will have on its success. A supportive workplace environment will not only empower and assist staff, but will also positively impact productivity and company goals. 

Dan also shared some amazing insight and advice with us on continuing your own mental health education.  

Dan offers some takeaway advice

In partnership with Mental Health Movement we have curated a Talking About Mental Health playlist specifically to showcase content that will assist you in developing the mental health blueprint in your organisation.  

The playlist includes learning content from Mental Health Movement, as well as other mental health providers. If you are already a Go1 customer, you can recreate this playlist in your own LMS or Go1 Platform. If you are not yet a customer but interested in the Go1 Content Hub for your organisation's wellbeing and L&D goals, please get in touch with the team today. 

We chat with Dan Hunt, from the Mental Health Movement, about psychosocial hazards, best practice, and the power of personal story.

Why is mental health education in workplaces important?

While Australians are feeling the mental and emotional toll of lockdowns, isolation and uncertainty, workplaces are emerging as instrumental in supporting and empowering their team’s mental health.

Organisations that prioritise mental health awareness can have a crucial effect on not only their employees' ability to recognise signs of mental illness, but also for supporting those who need that extra support and treatment.

A special message from Dan Hunt

A 2021 Allianz study has shown that while workplace mental health injuries are increasing, there remains a lack of mental health related discussions in the workplace. Organisations have an opportunity to not only support those who are struggling with their mental health but also create an educated and empowered environment that proactively increases the mental resilience of their entire teams.  

We spoke to Dan Hunt, Founding Director of Mental Health Movement for this year's R U OK? Day, about building a mental health blueprint for workplaces that not only reduces stigma associated with mental health and illness, but also establishes pathways for stronger overall wellbeing.  

Tell us about a conversation or moment when someone asked you ‘R U OK?’  

Tell us about a conversation or moment when someone asked  R U OK?

When going through a stage of heightened or prolonged struggle, it can be difficult to recognise the signs of dips in our mental health. As Dan experienced, having supportive managers and family who genuinely asked him, ‘are you ok?’ meant he was able to take that first step backwards to recognise his struggle.  

The act of checking in on someone has the potential to powerfully alter someone’s path and change a life. Initiatives such as R U OK? Day are an informative way to cultivate that ideal work environment where everyone feels confident and safe to ask such a simple yet impactful question.  

A workplace that has not addressed mental health stigma sufficiently can be a significant barrier to employees accessing treatment. For each genuine conversation around mental health within a workplace or team, an environment is encouraged that helps people take proactive steps towards support. 

Why do you start workplaces with awareness and stigma reduction?  

Why do you start workplaces with awareness and stigma reduction?

Actively working to decrease mental health stigma in the workplace can be seen as the foundation of building a mentally healthy workplace.

Stigma reduction not only improves knowledge and supportive behaviours within the entire team, but also increases preventative efforts from struggling employees during the early stages of mental illness. 

When looking at the sustainability of a workplace’s mental health framework, awareness is only the first, foundational step. Building on top of this, organisation’s have the opportunity to develop mentally supportive environments through ongoing education, application and training.

What is the importance of ongoing education for people at work?

There’s no doubt employees are feeling the added pressures of working during a pandemic, with 40% feeling the pressure to work longer hours and a staggering 77% clocking that overtime to complete their tasks.  

Within the context of social isolation and uncertainty, it is no surprise that more Australians are reaching out for support than ever before.  

Considering this widespread struggle, it is concerning to note that 69% of Australian employees have not had a discussion with their employers regarding mental health since the pandemic began.  

Dan Hunt and the team at Mental Health Movement have focused on discovering these pressure points, as well as psychosocial hazards, to create a proactive blueprint for mentally healthy workplaces.

Partnering with Mental Health Movement over the years has included developing high quality wellbeing resources for the Go1 Content Hub. 

This R U OK? Day, we have curated a Talking About Mental Health playlist specifically to showcase content that will assist you in developing the mental health blueprint for your organisation. The playlist includes learning content from Mental Health Movement, as well as other mental health providers. 

If you are already a Go1 customer, you can recreate this playlist in your own LMS or Go1 Platform.  

If you are not yet a customer but interested in the Go1 Content Hub for your organisation's wellbeing and L&D goals, please get in touch with the team today. 

We speak to Dan Hunt, Founding Director of Mental Health Movement, about implementing a stronger wellbeing framework in the workplace.

How do we make 'R U OK?' last in the workplace?

We speak to Dan Hunt, Founding Director of Mental Health Movement, about implementing a stronger wellbeing framework in the workplace. 

With millions of Australians facing extended lockdowns and restrictions, the isolation has made it harder to not only check in with the people in our world, but also to recognise the early signs of someone struggling. 

As we approach R U OK? Day on Thursday 9th September, we are encouraged to genuinely focus on checking in on one another and asking, ‘are they really ok?’  

At any one point, 1 in 6 working age Australians will be suffering from a diagnosed mental illness, and a further 1 in 6 will be struggling with symptoms of poor mental health, such as fatigue, worry and sleep issues. With the added pressures of the past two years, many employees are showing up to work carrying the weight of struggling mental health. 

Within a workplace, it’s important to develop a culture where everyone can feel confident asking and answering the simple yet impactful question, ‘R U OK?’ Besides the legal responsibility of providing a safe and healthy workplace, regardless of whether in an office or remote, these conversations can make a real difference to anyone going through a challenging time. 

So how can we empower our team to comfortably check in on each other?  

Knowledge is particularly powerful when creating a mentally healthy workplace. By including mental health awareness training as a part of your organisation’s ongoing L&D program, you can empower not only those struggling but their peers as well to recognise the early signs of low mental health. 

Mental health issues can affect anyone, regardless of background, age, gender or income, and symptoms often look different from person to person. Providing education to your teams around not only the normalcy of mental health struggles, but the simple signs to look out for in each other, has the potential to change someone’s life.  

Make it as easy as possible for employees to reach out for extra support when needed. Consider this pathway as crucial as your team knowing where the fire exits are in an office building. Knowing the pathway to support can make an impactful difference, particularly when someone is in a crisis situation. 

Employee EAP and Mental Health Counselling programs are an amazing way to provide wellbeing support to employees. If not available, ensure you have implemented clear promotion for and education around accessible community support options such as those listed below.

Lifeline 13 11 14 
Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636 
The Suicide Callback Service 1300 659 467 
MensLine 1300 78 99 78 
Kids Help Line 1800 55 1800  

With a solid foundation of mental health education, and clear pathways to extra support for anyone struggling, you have already made beneficial steps to creating a mentally healthy workplace. As the year goes on, make time to remind and refresh your teams. Days like R U OK? Day are purposefully developed to help foster an environment within your workplace for conversations around mental health, suicide and suicide prevention.  

In partnership with Go1, R U OK? have masterfully developed the online course below, helping your teams learn when and how to ask 'R U OK?' at work. The course is free and accessible, ready to be integrated into your R U OK? Day plans.  

In addition, make sure you check out the other amazing workplace resources from RUOK?, including Workplace Champion packs and registration for their R U OK? Day webinar on Thursday 9th September 2021.

Looking for comprehensive Mental Health and Wellbeing training?  

Go1 has over 2,000 training modules and resources developed specifically to educate and increase the health and wellbeing of your team. Speak to your Go1 Customer Success Manager today about curating a playlist built to educate and empower.  

Please remember, if you are experiencing significant distress, you can reach out to Lifeline 131 114 or Beyond Blue 1300 224 636 for immediate support. If you, or anyone you know, is feeling suicidal call the Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467 for immediate support. 

With the added pressures of the past two years, many employees are showing up to work carrying the weight of struggling mental health. So how can we empower our team to comfortably check in on each other?

Empower your workplace this RU OK? Day

With the added pressures of the past two years, many employees are showing up to work carrying the weight of struggling mental health. So how can we empower our team to comfortably check in on each other?

At Go1, we believe in creating solutions that make it easy for organizations to learn. One key element to executing these solutions is a focus on personalized and integrative learning experiences. 

We are excited to announce a global partnership with Adobe that will see Go1 equip Adobe Captivate Prime learning management system users with our extensive workplace learning online library.  

A new Content Marketplace from Adobe Captivate Prime will provide its users with in-product access to more than 70,000 titles from the Go1 Content Hub. Users will also have access to topical content bundles, curated exclusively by Go1 for Adobe Captivate Prime, that address the learning needs of popular job functions and skill domains such as Sales, Leadership, and Project Management. 

“Digital learning has seen tremendous growth over the past years and will continue to accelerate well beyond the pandemic. Bringing Go1’s extensive catalog of world-class content to Captivate Prime will offer users engaging learning and development experiences across any digital device,” said Amit Dayal, Vice President and General Manager, Print, Publish and Digital Learning, Adobe. 

Adobe Captivate Prime is a next-generation learning management system that delivers AI-based personalized learning experiences that allow users to embed learning tools into their work. Adobe Captivate Prime LMS is recognized as a leader by G2 and used by millions of learners across large enterprises. 

“More than 3.5 million learners rely on Go1 for a seamless and frictionless experience for their workplace learning needs. With Go1’s Content Hub, Adobe Captivate Prime users will gain access to the world’s top online training providers coupled with an unparalleled learning experience to improve employee development and retention,” Basem Emera, Go1 Vice-President of Partnerships and Alliances, said.  

This exciting partnership means Adobe Captivate Prime users now have ready access to a broader scope of personalized learning options.  

Get in touch if you'd like to learn more about the partnership. 

Go1’s partnership with Adobe to equip Captivate Prime users through AI-based personalized learning experiences

It’s been an exciting month here at Go1. We now reach over 3.5 million learners and have recently closed US$200M in Series D funding. Given all the recent news coverage I thought it was a good moment to share a bit more around our plans and thinking, and to thank everyone who has helped us with the journey to date.

In 2015, we set out from a small garage in Brisbane, Australia, with a mission to unlock people’s positive potential through a love of learning. How? By helping connect learners and businesses with great content publishers in a single subscription.  

It’s been a busy past six years, which has seen us working with organizations, governments, and NFPs across the world to deliver learning content that is relevant, effective and inspiring.  

Throughout this time, we have increased our user base by more than 300 percent year-over-year, and now support more than 1,700 customers worldwide. 

We are excited to announce we have now played a part in over 3.5 million people’s learning and development. We do that through partnering with some amazing content creators and integrating with many leading LMS, LXP and HRIS solutions.  

As recently shared in the press, we have just completed a Series D funding round with US$200M in new investment coming into the business. 

As part of this funding round, we are thrilled to welcome SoftBank Vision Fund 2 who share our belief around the market potential.  