Social media and online community management specialist Quiip has developed a training package to teach resilience and coping skills to individuals and workplaces involved in moderating and managing online spaces.
The 2019 Australian Community Manager survey found that 77% of community managers work more than eight hours a day and 32% report overwork and burnout.
Alison Michalk, CEO of Quiip, says the package is long overdue.
"Online moderation can, at times, be stressful, disturbing and relentless," Michalk says.
"For our industry to thrive we need to start taking mental health seriously.”
The Resilience Training Pack was developed in consultation with psychologist and rehabilitation counsellor Ceara Rickard.
It is based on research, which shows that being resilient can help people adapt and cope with difficult situations.
Rickard believes that ensuring workplaces have the knowledge they need to develop a culture of resilience is critical.
"Employers to have both an obligation and a wonderful opportunity to develop resilient workplaces in which teams are supported and cared for in a way that enhances their resilience, both as individuals and as a community," Rickard says.
"It is not enough to suggest to individual staff that they must be resilient, because resilience is as much about communities as individuals.”
The Resilience Training pack helps course participants gain a greater understanding of their mental health and that of their colleagues, and to develop a custom toolkit of healthy mindsets and behaviours they can use to combat workplace stress.
Mental health and wellbeing remains an area the industry with a Mentally Healthy report highlighting that people within the media, marketing and creative industry show greater signs of mental illness compared to the national average.
Yesterday, Initiative Australia released Culture Shock, the first report in a series that explores mental health and sport with the marketing and communications industry being the main targets.
Last week, TBWA Sydney also launched a mental health and wellbeing program in conjunction with Heart on My Sleeve Movement.
It is the first advertising agency to partner with Heart on My Sleeve. The program has already begun to roll out with three components to provide training and tools that address the specific challenges and opportunities for both managers and people at all levels across the TBWA Collective.
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