'The nicest place on the internet': How an Australian business is trying to transform mental health at work

Cherie Clonan, CEO of marketing agency The Digital Picnic, explains how perks like free dinners, burnout-preventing days off and even ADHD assessments have boosted employee wellbeing – and her bottom line.

If you walk into the offices of The Digital Picnic (TDP) in Melbourne, Australia, there's a high probability that that there won't be a single person there. While an empty office might not sound like the setting for one of Australia's most radically inclusive businesses, it's just one of many policies that has led to this small digital marketing agency being described by their clients as "the nicest place on the internet", according to Cherie Clonan, the company's founder and CEO.

At TDP, there are only six in-office days per month, on Mondays and Thursdays. The first week of each month is entirely work from home, with minimal meetings and nothing client-facing. If employees can't face even those few days in the office, they have the option to work remotely all the time.

"We just want to get the best out of people and not chip away at their soul in order to get that," Clonan tells the BBC.

Clonan, who was recently named Woman of the Year in the B&T Women in Media awards for her human-centred and inclusive approach to leadership, is firmly focussed on transforming workplace culture. As a proudly autistic leader, she has a unique lens on neuro-affirming work practices, centred around flexibility, empathy and accommodation, where the mental health of her team is a core focus.

"[Mental health] has never been more important," says Clonan, who explains her priority is to foster a culture where employees can be open about their mental health without fear of stigma or judgment. "I don't think we're actually well as a society, off the back of some pretty big years where it was all a lot for a long time. It's more important now than ever for organisational leaders to prioritise mental health beyond a cupcake once a year."

Mental health is increasingly being recognised as a crucial factor in workplace productivity and employee well-being. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), mental health conditions like depression and anxiety cost the global economy $1tn (£780bn) annually in lost productivity. And psychological well-being is now a high priority for workers too. The American Psychological Association's 2023 Work in America Survey noted, for example, that 92% of employees surveyed said that it is "very" or "somewhat important" to them to work for an organisation that values their emotional and psychological well-being.

Despite this growing awareness, many workplaces still lack adequate systems. This is especially true when it comes to employees who are neurodivergent, the umbrella term that includes conditions such as autism, ADHD, dyspraxia, dyscalculia and dyslexia. For these individuals, the everyday pressures of masking their cognitive differences in workplaces designed for neurotypical people can be overwhelming, and contributes to heightened rates of stress, anxiety, depression and burnout.

According to Nancy Doyle, chief science officer at Genius Within and visiting professor at Birkbeck, University of London, who specialises in neurodiversity and disability inclusion at work, it's vital that any trauma and burnout resulting from the workplace is seen as a systemic problem rather than individual failures. "We need to do more preventative work, looking at working conditions, hours, fair pay, sensory overwhelm, meaningful work, self-determination at work and relationships," she says.

With WHO noting that an estimated 12 billion working days are lost every year to depression and anxiety, there is a strong argument for businesses to rethink their approach to inclusion. In fact, according to WHO, every $1 (£0.78) invested in mental health returns $4 (£3.10) in productivity gains, making mental health not just a moral obligation but a smart business decision, they say.