CIPD 2016 Report - Mental Health in the Workplace

A striking 31% of people have experienced mental health problems whilst in employment, according to a 2016 report by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

Despite an increased prevalence of mental health issues in the workplace, there is still much to be done to better prevent and tackle these issues. Of those that have had poor mental health, 42% have had a mental health problem in the past 12 months. Half of those with mental health problems report that they have taken an absence from work directly due to their mental health. For the other half, an astounding 95% of them say that their mental health affects their performance. This is no doubt a huge cost for organisations.

Under 50% reported that their employers provide adequate support for their mental health. Almost a third say that they do not know how well their employer supports them, indicating that if there is any help to be had, they are not being made aware of how to seek it.

Luckily, we have some tips on how your business can help tackle poor mental health in the workplace!

1) Invest in mental health line manager training – employees want to know that their manager understands and managers want to feel prepared.

2) Invest in resilience and mindfulness training for employees – this is a great means of preventing stress.

3) Invest in wider health programmes – it is known that good diet and exercise are a great aid in preventing and treating mental health issues.

4) Consider providing options for more flexible working hours to better fit with each individual’s lifestyle requirements – e.g. their family.

5) Consider providing options for home working – some may find the office environment too stressful.

6) Allow a phased return to work for those who have taken time off for their mental health – this gives them time to re-acclimatise to the work environment

7) Provide access to occupational health services.

8) Provide access to counselling services or an Employee Assistance Programme

9) Foster an open and understanding approach to talk about mental health amongst all staff – regular one-on-one well-being chats between a manager and their team members would be a great start.

10) Promote the support you can provide – make sure your employees know what to do when they need help.

Each 80p spent on intervention programmes makes a £4 saving in reduced absences and better performance!

Altruist provides proactive training courses with measurable outcomes to help you deal with stress and mental health in the workplace more effectively. You can learn more by checking out our Mental Health Training for Managers Training, Mental Health First Aid Training, or one of our other Mental Health Wellbeing At Work Training courses.

Katie Buckingham

Katie founded Altruist Enterprises in 2013. Since then, she has grown Altruist into a nationwide provider of mental health and resilience training. Katie is a seasoned public speaker and innovator of bespoke mental health courses. In 2022, Katie won the Cambridge Social Innovation Prize awarded by Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge and Cambridge Judge Business School.

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