Georgie Harman: “My Number-one Mental Health Priority for Leaders”
For many, the passing of the Right to Disconnect legislation in 2024 – which allows eligible workers to ignore out-of-hours contact from employers – was a Fair Work milestone. However, Beyond Blue CEO Georgie Harman says it’s even more vital to focus on setting reasonable expectations while employees are at work.
“Job design is my number-one priority for creating a mentally healthy work environment,” says Harman, who’s been CEO of the organisation since 2014. “Are you designing jobs so that the person knows: these are my accountabilities, this is my locus of control, these are my outputs, these are the outcomes that the business wants from me. And can it be done in reasonable work hours, knowing that there will be high-demand periods and also times when they won’t be working around the clock?”
Harman is one of Australia’s most influential leaders in the mental health sector, with broad experience in policy development. She shared her wisdom at the final 2024 event in Qantas magazine’s Think. thought leadership series, held at Society’s Lillian Brasserie in the heart of Melbourne. The panel focused on balancing wellbeing and high performance.
Harman says promoting workplace practices that contribute to wellbeing benefits the business, too. “Good work is great for our mental health,” she adds. “Work is not just about paying the bills, it’s about being part of a community, making friends, making people happy, building great products, selling a lot – whatever your business is.”
She says companies that leave their mental health strategy to the HR team “get an instant fail” in her books. “HR is about risk management. If you’re taking that lens to it, you’re missing out on the opportunity to create a workplace where people thrive – where they want to be and where they do good work.”
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Programs that support physical wellbeing are beneficial but they’re not a panacea for mental health support, says Harman. “We love a good stretch, don’t we?” she says with a laugh. “As a boss, you feel good investing in Pilates classes or buying everyone a new pair of running shoes. But it’s not going to affect the wellbeing of a person who’s in a badly designed job, expected to work unrelenting hours or has a really bad manager. Those are the things that cause mental harm.”
Harman says organisations need to be proactive about taking care of their employees’ mental health, on top of designing roles with appropriate expectations.
“Be a business that understands what to look out for when someone’s starting to struggle and have the right range of supports,” she says, adding that it’s about more than simply having an EAP (employment assistance program) in place. “It’s about having a culture where people feel safe to speak up and managers who are equipped and confident to have difficult conversations with individuals and teams. There’s a science to it and it works.”
Think. is a thought leadership event and content series, presented by Qantas magazine in association with LSH Auto Australia, the country’s leading Mercedes-Benz dealer group. Find out more about LSH Auto Australia.
