Why Should Employers Take Action on Mental Health Issues?
Poor mental health is one of the biggest issues in the workplace today. Mental Health issues are causing over 70 Million working days to be lost each year. It has a huge impact on employees as well as having many severe problems for employers.
Reduce Your Staff Turnover: over a third of employees said they would leave their current organisation if the stress levels did not improve.
Cut Sickness Absence: mental health issues such as depression, stress and anxiety are responsible for almost 70 million days off sick per year. This is the most of any other health condition.
Reduce Presenteeism: Employees are coming into work but underperforming due to mental ill health, this cost is £15.1 billion or £605 per employee in the UK each year.
Demonstrate a Commitment to Corporate Responsibilty: work related mental health issues costs UK employers up to £26 Billion every year through lost working days, staff turnover and low productivity. Yet, business leaders still admit to prejudice against employees with mental health issues.
Ensure Compliant with Legislation: If a mental health issue has adverse effects on someone ability to perform day to day tasks, this is considered a disability. This is protected under the Equality Act 2010. Employers have a duty not to discriminate and to make reasonable adjustments in the workplace.
Ensure a Healthy Workplace: on average, employees take 7 days off work every year for health reasons. It is estimated that mental health issues account for at least 40%. Although 90% of employees feel unable to be honest about the reason for their absence.
Improve Staff Morale: 60% of employees say they would feel more motivated and more likely to recommend their organisation as a good place to work if their employer took action to support mental health and wellbeing.
Optimise Performance: There is a strong link between levels of staff wellbeing and performance. Taking a positive approach to mental health at work can help you grow your staff and your organisation.
Centre for Mental Health - “Simple steps to improve management of mental health in the workplace, including prevention and early identification of problems, should enable employers to save at least 30% or more of these costs – at least £8 billion a year”
Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) England training courses teach people to spot the signs of mental health issues, offer initial help and guide a person towards support. We don’t teach people to be therapists, but we do teach people to listen, reassure and respond, even in a crisis - and even potentially reach out to someone before a crisis happens.
Quality mental health training, underpinned by a robust wellbeing strategy, gives people the tools to keep themselves healthy and support each other. It can also help to:
• Build employees’ confidence to have open conversations around mental health and break the stigma
• Encourage people to access support early when needed, for a faster recovery
• Empower people with a long term mental health issue or disability to thrive in work
• Promote a mentally healthy environment, stopping preventable issues and allowing people to thrive and become more productive
• Embed a long term positive culture across the whole organisation, where employees recognise their mental and physical health are supported as equal parts of the whole person
At Stellar Mind we are passionate about helping you to create a mentally healthier workplace. To arrange Adult Mental Health First Aid or for a chat about mental health at work please contact me. I look forward to hearing from you.
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