Mental Health in the Workplace
Why should companies care about mental health?
It was mental health awareness week in the UK recently. Cue a plethora of posts across social media channels and company websites showing support and pledging activism within that week. But immediately after that, the corporate posting focus has shifted away to other topics. Now I don’t want to dampen any well-meaning intentions but this has got me thinking … how much of this messaging for good mental health is a genuine call for change, and how much of it is corporate tokenism?
There is plenty of evidence to support that that poor mental health has a detrimental impact on performance. But I wonder if organisations realise how much of an impact results from poor employee mental health, and at what financial cost? Deloitte’s most recent Mental Health Report for UK Industries estimated that mental health issues directly cost employers between £42 - £45billion annually. That is a mammoth amount of money and appears to indicate that employers:
don’t realise the impact poor mental health is having on their business, and
aren’t doing enough to tackle what appears to be an increasing problem.
55% of those surveyed by Deloitte reported too many work priorities or targets as being the source of their poor mental health. 36% stated it was caused by working overtime and not having space to take leave. 35% claimed lack of support from their leaders, and 33% stated that negative working relationships, lack of trust from employer, and organisational change being handled poorly was the cause of mental health issues. Impact rates were evaluated not just by sickness but also by presenteeism; where employees needed to show up to work even when they didn’t feel well enough, answered emails and calls at all times of day and night, worked over the weekends and felt guilty when taking time off – all of which is leading to increased cases of employee burnout, which in turn has an impact on commercial productivity.
It seems that a mindset change is needed to tackle this, but it’s not enough to sponsor initiatives and donate to mental health charities. It has to come from the leaders at the top, both in terms of policy, words, and action, especially in leading by example. Training and education across organisations is key – leaders at all levels need to understand how to set and manage reasonable expectations, cultural standards need to be set, and adaptations need to be made. Leaders (and employees) across the board also need to be able to spot the signs of when someone is struggling, and have a specified course of action to ensure that individual gets the support they need.
Does poor mental health affect all employees?
Deloitte’s report identified that those employees that were most affected by poor mental health were disproportionately in the younger age brackets. I wonder if this is because younger generations are quicker to identify experiencing stress because they’re better educated to recognise this? Or are expectations for younger age employees too high? Could it be so that the “snowflake” generation is more than a mythical stereotype? I wonder if older generations not as affected because they’re stuck in a “don’t complain” culture and/or do they actually expect stress as a norm? Is there an existing culture that is status-related, along the lines of “the more stressed you are, the more important your job is”? Whatever the reasons and whichever employees are affected, the fact remains that poor mental health within the workforce appears to cost a lot of money for employers.
Is mental health wellbeing a viable company benefit?
There is a positive flip side to the Deloitte report, where it was determined that for every £1 spent by employers on mental health interventions they get £5 back in reduced absence, presenteeism and staff turnover. And that level of return on investment is hard to argue against.
There are already some big corporate names who appear to be genuinely backing up their support for mental health wellbeing with real investment and actions, beyond just promoted slogans and advertised values. Johnson and Johnson, for example, has been a great proponent of mental wellbeing, and since the 1970s has been proactively promoting a culture of health as a core value with a view that “Having your employees at their best and fully engaged is a business issue – it’s not just a nice to have.”
Accenture has been active in promoting flexible work schedules, and employees can opt to work in non-Accenture office environments. They have an App-based “Accenture Active” initiative to encourage employees to choose a wellness goal and then support and reward them for accomplishing it. They also offer confidential support services to assist on issues like stress, substance abuse, depression and anxiety.
Appreciating that not all companies can realistically offer the range and level of support available at corporate giants, I still see smaller organisations investing in mental health and wellbeing, presumably because they too recognise the positive impact it is having not only on their reputation but also on their bottom line. Organisations like Innocent Drinks, Monzo Bank, Snaptrip (holiday company) and Propellernet (search marketing agency), have invested in initiatives including dedicated life coaches and therapy sessions, access to mental health first aiders, free yoga and meditation sessions, free gym membership with time off allocated to attend, and a ban on out of office hours emails all to support the holistic health of their employees, contributing to them being employers of choice.
It makes sense that support for mental health wellbeing is increasingly a topic on the agenda for HR leaders, especially those in companies who work at pace, who expect high-performance results more often than not, and who need to stay competitive in attracting and retaining key talent. I suspect that provisions for ensuring good mental health across the workforce, may well become a key benefit that is looked for by discerning employees, who are measuring the types of benefits offered by any company against their corporate statements on the value of their staff.
Is employee mental health a global area of concern for HR leaders?
Whilst the Deloitte report is specific to the UK it would be naïve to presume this is an issue unique to one country. As an example, Mental Health America’s 2021 “Mind the Workplace” report identified that 9 out of 10 employees reported their workplace stress affected their mental health and 4 out of 5 felt emotionally drained from their work. Perhaps most worryingly, 3 out of 5 employees felt they had not received adequate support for their mental health from their leaders, and only 5% of the 5000+ people surveyed strongly agreed that their employer provided a safe environment for those living with mental illness.
Many other countries have organisations dedicated to promoting and supporting mental health, and there’s a plethora of reports and statistics dedicated to this topic, which arguably indicates that there is growing awareness and acceptance of mental health being a very real societal issue. So, if poor mental health ultimately has a detrimental impact both on employee performance and the company’s bottom line, it makes commercial sense for companies to go beyond the “awareness week” promotions to make good mental health a priority for their employees. After all, it appears that ultimately each business will be all the better for it!
About the Author
Ian Mael is valued across his HR network for his diligent communications and authentic partnerships. As the leader for interim HR executive hires at Carter Morris, he brings over 15 years of recruitment experience for multi sector hires within demanding deadlines for the full range of specialist roles within the HR profession.