How Heritage Bank built a psychologically safe workplace with Unmind
Content
- About
- Problem
- Solution
- Outcome
Stats
- HQ: Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia
- Industry: Banking
- Company size: 500 - 1000 employees
About
Heritage Bank is one of Australia’s largest customer-owned banks, with a history (and heritage) that stretches back to 1875. Now, it’s leading the charge for change when it comes to employee wellbeing.
It knows that people and profit aren’t competing priorities. For a business to flourish, its people need to flourish. So, it set out to create a psychologically safe environment for its employees with Unmind.
Problem
Heritage Bank understood that creating a flourishing business requires its people to thrive. They recognized the importance of fostering a psychologically safe environment where employees could openly discuss mental health and wellbeing. However, achieving this cultural shift required strong leadership and a company-wide commitment to mental wellbeing, starting at the top.
As Margo Dewar, Chief People Officer at Heritage Bank, put it:
For us, launching Unmind, and the way we did, was the start of our journey to improve our culture.
Solution
To embed mental wellbeing into the company culture, Heritage Bank partnered with Unmind. They began by securing leadership buy-in, with Margo Dewar and CEO Peter Lock introducing Unmind at the senior leadership retreat in May 2022. This set the tone for the entire organization, highlighting the role of leaders in championing mental wellbeing.
By demonstrating leadership support early on, Heritage Bank made it easier for the entire workforce to embrace the new wellbeing initiative.
Sue Lowe, Head of Health, Wellbeing and Engagement recognized how the CEO'S enthusiastic endorsement led the way, making it easy for others to follow.
When you’ve got the CEO standing up in front of all your senior leaders going, ‘We want Unmind and we want it now,’ it made it effortless.
With Unmind’s science-backed platform, employees quickly integrated mental health practices
into their daily routines. Teams began using Unmind to start meetings, and senior leaders even applied it in key events like sales conferences.
Outcome
Within a month of launching Unmind, Heritage Bank saw employees actively using the platform as part of their workday. From regular team meetings to individual mental health check-ins, Unmind became a trusted tool for reconnecting and maintaining mental wellbeing.
As Kimberley Kelly, a branch manager at Heritage Bank, shared:
“It’s really easy to get caught up in the moment, but not so easy to reconnect with yourself. [But now] we have Unmind for that.”
Although the journey is ongoing, Heritage Bank has already seen the benefits of Unmind’s approach. Employees feel empowered to focus on their mental health, and the platform is making a real difference. As Sue Lowe summarized:
We launched Unmind at our Senior Leadership retreat because mental wellbeing matters. State matters. How people show up, lean in, be present and support each other matters.