Why is having mental wellbeing provision in the workplace essential? Here are 7 reasons:
1) 1 in 4 people will experience a mental health problem during the course of a year (Goldberg)
Mental health issues are common with a quarter of the UK population suffering with a mental health issue in any given year. As an example, it could be said that if you have 80 employees, 20 of those employees will have problems with their mental health each year. As a result, it is essential that employers, managers and colleagues are able to spot the early signs of a problem and be able to help those staff members not only for the purpose of saving costs but also to help maintain staff well-being and productivity.
2) Stress is the most common cause of long-term sickness absence in the workplace (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development - CIPD)
Stress is the most common cause of long term sickness absence in the workplace, and yet severe and ongoing stress is preventable through effective management actions.
3) 70 million working days are lost due to mental ill health per year (Centre for Mental Health)
Following on from the previous point, 70 million working days are lost due to mental ill health each year. This includes presenteeism (loss of productivity at work) which is often overlooked when assessing mental health in the workplace.
4) Mismanagement of mental health issues are costing UK businesses £30.3 billion per year (Government Strategy)
These lost days are costing businesses a massive £30.3 billion per year. These costs are made up of absenteeism, presenteeism, temporary staff costs and legal costs.
5) Simple steps to improve the management of mental health in the workplace should save employers 30% of these costs (Centre for Mental Health)
These costs can be easily reduced through effective management of mental well-being in the workplace. Steps to improve the prevention of mental health problems, being able to spot the early signs of issues and being able to support someone initially will all help in reducing costs. Simple provision like this could therefore save businesses £9.09 billion!
6) 41% of people find their jobs to be stressful or very stressful (Psychological Association)
A recent survey stated that nearly half of people find their jobs stressful. The more stressed you are, the more likely it is that you will develop mental health problems, as well as physical health problems such as back and neck pain and heart disease.
7) 1 in 5 people fear disclosing stress would put them first in line for redundancy (Mind - Mental Health Charity)
Unfortunately, 20% of employees fear that disclosing stress may cause them to lose their jobs. This fear increases their stress further and will not help in finding a solution. Creating an open forum in the workplace where mental health can be discussed positively, will go a long way towards reducing this number.
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You can also check out our mental health training for managers, mental health at work training for employees, or one of our other mental health wellbeing at work training courses.