What we do

Research shows a clear link between employee wellbeing and better engagement, creativity, talent retention and productivity. We help our clients put this research into practice for happier people and undeniable business results.

We provide excellent, evidence-based interventions, informed by high-quality research. Where authoritative research is lacking, we use our experience to develop hypotheses and test these out. This model of thought leadership, quality control and continuous improvement allows us to be effective, innovative and brave. It also means our services are robust, consistent and responsive to our clients’ needs.

With our focus on creating sustainable business change and cultures of wellbeing within workplaces, our work is predominantly delivered with small groups of people to connect and learn together. We focus on understanding your business through our wellbeing assessments, working together with you on wellbeing strategies, building capability within your teams, and coaching on specific areas of need.

WELLBEING STRATEGY

We partner with our clients to create strategies to enhance mental health and wellbeing at work. We help you design plans to identify and manage workplace stress factors to protect employee mental health and psychological safety.

Like you, we want to make a positive difference for your people. We understand the challenges of complex, high-pressured, rapidly changing workplaces. We work in partnership with you to identify your unique needs and design targeted solutions for individuals, leaders and organisation-wide.

This might include:

  • developing robust mental health and wellbeing at work strategies
  • creating effective workplace wellbeing programmes
  • navigating employee mental health
  • raising mental health awareness at work
  • drafting wellbeing policies and procedures
  • evaluating organisational change management strategies
  • identifying health and wellbeing responsibilities.

Want to ground your HR, H&S, or wellbeing initiatives in the evidence of “what works” but don’t have the time or the know-how?

We can help. Our network of PhD researchers and expert psychologists are experienced in researching, assessing, and advising on employee solutions that balance what’s best for business and people.

We put evidence at the heart of all that we do and are no strangers to unscrambling jargon-filled research to find the key insights that drive action.

Example engagements include:

  • Generating rapid and user-friendly evidence summaries to inform timely action, for example:
    • What psychological supports are most effective in the immediate aftermath of a major incident?
    • What workplace physical health initiatives are likely to make the most impact?
  • Analysing and advising on novel organisational interventions, for example:
  • Undertaking evidence reviews for organisational change, for example:
    • What practical strategies are effective at minimising psychological harm during a restructure or redundancy?
    • What do I need to consider when re-designing my office environment for better productivity and wellbeing?

At Umbrella, we pride ourselves on keeping on top of the latest research when it comes to workplace wellbeing and mental health. Everything we do is evidence-based and informed by the latest insights from research conducted in New Zealand, and around the world.

Enquire today to find out more about our business advisory packages – from rapid evidence reviews through to in-depth assessment, analysis, and consulting.

Got a question?

We work with a range of individuals and teams from a diverse variety of organisations. Get in touch to see how we can help.

WELLBEING ASSESSMENT

In your organisation, how do you know whether your employees are finding it tough or thriving―or somewhere in-between? Our Umbrella Wellbeing Assessment makes organisational wellbeing easy by assessing, tracking, responding to, and proactively building employee wellbeing and resilience.

Comprehensive and reliable data is key to ensuring that your wellbeing strategy improves outcomes for your people and your business. Our Wellbeing Assessment can help.

Umbrella Wellbeing Assessment:

  • A 15-minute confidential online survey designed for organisations by psychologists
  • Comprehensive assessment of wellbeing and the factors influencing it, including psychological distress, resilience, work and life challenges, healthy habits, and organisational support and climate
  • Personalised wellbeing report and expert resources for each employee
  • Interactive organisation dashboard and comprehensive wellbeing report with insights into the unique wellbeing opportunities for the organisation
  • Data analysed by key demographic groupings and benchmarked against normative data from 6,000+ New Zealand employees
  • Designed to track wellbeing over time, including regular re-assessment using Wellbeing Assessment or our short-form Wellbeing Pulse
 

We’ve got your back

Our Wellbeing Assessment complements our other services so we can offer you the data, understanding, solutions and expertise that fit your business.

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

All our workshops are evidence-based and delivered by psychologists. We ensure psychological safety whilst supporting organisations to improve awareness and management of mental wellbeing in the workplace.

Together: Te Oranga o te Katoa is a new bi-cultural InFlow Learning programme by Umbrella incorporating our wellbeing book, bite-sized eLearning and instructor-led training.

The Book

A holistic, Aotearoa-centric wellbeing book developed by Umbrella’s expert team of researchers, psychologists, and cultural advisors.

Our book is an easily accessible and locally relevant wellbeing resource for people in the communities and workplaces around Aotearoa as well as their whānau.

Highlighting the importance of the social and environmental contexts we all live in, our book provides practical evidence-based strategies for improving the wellbeing of all.

eLearning

Our new eLearning was developed using book content and translated into bite-sized, engaging online learning. With over 40 modules available, learners can “pick and mix” their learning pathway based on current wellbeing goals and learning preferences.

Content includes video guidance from our psychologists and researchers, alongside engaging short lessons developed to strengthen new and existing wellbeing skills and knowledge.

Instructor-led training

Participants are provided with 24/7 access to eLearning courses, plus three psychologist-led group training sessions. These facilitated sessions help people gain maximum benefit from their learning, as well as developing skills and awareness through regular wellbeing check-ins and peer support.

Group training sessions can be delivered online or in-person.

Our resilience training provides the scaffolding and skills to help people manage life’s daily stressors, live well and enhance their performance.

In our rapidly changing world, organisations need employees who are agile and resilient, able to navigate change and handle disruptions.

Resilience skills go beyond “stress management” and help staff:

  • cope well during change
  • remain productive under pressure
  • bounce back from stress
  • manage uncertainty and transition
  • thrive on challenge
  • enhance a team commitment to building workplace wellbeing and resilience.

Options:

  • Resilience 90 min Overview (online or in-person)
  • Strengthening Resilience half-day workshop (online)
  • Comprehensive Strengthening Resilience full-day workshop (in-person)
  • e-Training option (please see e-Training below)
  • We also run resilience workshops at Victoria University Wellington.

 
Psychologically safe and healthy workplaces that enhance people’s mental wellbeing tend to also get better performance from their people and protect them from mental illness, such as depression at work.

Umbrella’s Mental Health Awareness training has been developed to help all team members identify signs of stress and distress in themselves and others. It supports team members to feel more confident talking about mental health in the workplace, and raising concerns with colleagues they may be worried about.

Our mental health awareness training helps staff to:

  • Connect with colleagues and leave feeling confident you have some new knowledge and robust skills to take away.
  • Increase knowledge about mental health and mental illness, and gain a practical sense of how the two may present.
  • Recognise the factors that have either a positive or negative influence on people’s mental health.
  • Identify the causes of work-related stress, and signs that stress has become something more serious.
  • Initiate and engage in compassionate conversations, when appropriate, with colleagues you are concerned about.
  • Gauge your own wellbeing, and learn strategies for improving it.

Options:

  • Mental Health Awareness 90 min Overview (online or in-person)
  • Understanding Mental Health in the Workplace for People Leaders half-day workshop (online)
  • Mental Health Awareness for All Staff full-day workshop (in-person)
  • Promoting Mental Health in the Workplace full-day workshop for People Leaders (in-person)
  • Mental Health Masterclass two-day workshop for People Leaders (in-person)

 
Leading High Performing Teams – half day workshop for People Leaders (in-person)

While all people in a team have a part to play in creating a culture of high performance, leaders play a crucial role in setting the tone and the conditions for psychological safety. Umbrella’s Leading High Performing Teams workshop gives leaders greater clarity on the behaviours which help and hinder in building a high performing team culture, and practical skills to put into action immediately.

WORKSHOP OBJECTIVES:

Our Leading High Performing Teams workshop helps People Leaders:

  • Understand what psychological safety is and why it is so important for a high performing team.
  • Recognise what happens in your brain when you are (or are not) feeling psychologically safe.
  • Use insights from psychological research to review the best ways you can boost psychological safety to build a high performing team through:
    • emotion regulation skills
    • building trust
    • developing high quality connections
    • supportive leadership
    • values-driven behaviour.
  • create an action plan to help you recognise the things you do well and pick up new helpful strategies.
 
Our popular Strengthening Resilience training is available as e-training, enabling people to cover the training modules at their own pace and as often as they like.

Resilience skills go beyond stress management techniques and help staff:

  • cope well during change
  • remain productive under pressure
  • bounce back from stress
  • manage uncertainty and transition
  • thrive on challenge
  • create a culture of wellbeing and resilience.

Ideal for:

  • geographically dispersed organisations
  • shift workers
  • remote workers
  • smaller organisations
  • refresher training.

Our resilience training is also available as in-person workshops.

 

Umbrella has developed a series of bite-sized sessions focused on wellbeing and mental health at work.

Overview topics include:

  • Strengthening resilience – an introduction
  • Mental health awareness – an introduction
  • Flourishing, the power of positive psychology
  • Shifting the frantic
  • Creating a culture of wellbeing in dispersed teams
  • Resilience during uncertain times

 

Our coaching and development services help your leaders improve both their own and others’ wellbeing and performance. Our experienced clinical psychologists combine their wellbeing expertise and business nous to translate psychological knowledge into practical assistance that matches your people’s day-to-day reality.

Coaching is an effective tool to improve both wellbeing and performance.  Group discussions are tailored and designed to support individuals and the team to reflect on their work practices, in service of promoting wellbeing and preventing burnout.  This sessions are about taking care of yourself, and about becoming more self-aware and skilled.

We offer small group development discussion on focus areas that are key for you, such as:

  • improving leadership effectiveness
  • increasing engagement and satisfaction in a particular role
  • assisting high-performing individuals with isolated areas of difficulty
  • accelerating career or professional development
  • effectively managing complex teams or tricky personalities
  • safely implementing organisational change management
  • supporting employees with their mental wellbeing
  • dealing with difficult people at work
  • how to manage workplace stress
  • achieving work-life balance.

Not sure?

Want to find out which workshop meets the needs of your organisation and people? Contact us, we’re happy to talk through the options.

“Working with Umbrella has been a great experience. They’ve provided fantastic insights and help in shaping our wellbeing strategy. We now have a buttoned-up strategy that gives us clear direction and focus to execute.”

“We are so grateful for the responsive service you provide for our staff.”

“Everyone at Umbrella is excellent to deal with.”

“We have presented some unique situations that Umbrella has consistently been able to assist with.”

“Umbrella are always a delight to engage with, and having a team of Clinical Psychologists on hand to provide us with advice, support and training has made a huge impact on the wellbeing of our people.”

NEED A SPEAKER?

Do you want an inspirational speaker who will showcase fresh thinking alongside practical tips and solutions for improving employee wellbeing?

Mental health and wellbeing increasingly appear on conference agenda. Umbrella can deliver motivational and inspiring segments with plenty of practical tips and actionable ideas to take away, and a “common language” for further discussions about workplace wellbeing and mental health back at work.

“Fabulous.”

“Her presentation was received well by the delegates.  She came across very knowledgeable and open, and the content was relevant and interesting.”

“Easy to understand and follow Gaynor’s presentation.”

“Great presenter, very down to earth and personable.”

“A well-presented and engaging overview.”

“I wish there had been more time. I believe that Gaynor has a lot to offer the community and businesses alike.”

“Gaynor was really engaging, stayed at the right ‘level’ of content.”