5 Reasons Companies Should Promote good mental health in the workplace
We have now been taught in the hardest way that employee wellbeing is critical to a business’s success. Without healthy and productive employees, maybe organizations without the resources to ride the fallout of COVID-19 will likely not survive or recover their business costs.
Let’s face it. There is still a stigma surrounding mental health. By revealing issues, people fear to become isolated, viewed as abnormal, and considered unfit for the job. Employers have an essential role to play in supporting employees with education about mental health and creating an open dialogue. Providing resources that promote awareness can help create an accessible and positive workplace, one that fosters engagement and attracts talent.
five reasons why the mental health of employees is such an important consideration in the workplace.
It’s the right thing to do
Whether or not an employee has a mental health problem, an employer has a duty of care to ensure their health, safety and wellbeing under health and safety legislation. Employers have a duty to assess the risks arising from hazards at work, including work-related mental health problems.
If an employee is considered to have a disability, the Equality Act 2010 says that they have a right not to be discriminated against in employment. This means that employers must not treat individuals with a mental health problem less favourably than other people.
2. It boosts productivity
Smart employers know that organisations are only as strong as their people – they depend on having a healthy and productive workforce. Good mental health underpins this. By positively managing and supporting employees’ mental wellbeing, employers can ensure that staff perform to their potential – and this allows the business to achieve peak performance. Research shows that FTSE 100 companies that prioritise employee wellbeing outperform the rest of the FTSE 100 by 10 per cent. By supporting staff wellbeing, they reap the benefits through enhanced morale, loyalty, commitment, innovation, productivity and profitability.
3. It makes good business sense
The twin goals of increasing employee engagement and creating a mentally healthy workplace are interdependent. Positively managing mental health underpins good employee engagement and benefits everyone – employees, employers and the bottom line. Engagement is about recognising that employees, if they are to perform at their best, must be respected, involved, heard, well-led and valued. Making changes that have a positive impact on employees’ experiences at work are integral. Approaches such as flexible working, building resilience and staff development contribute to good engagement.
4. The cost of not acting can be significant
The Thriving at Work review stated that poor mental health costs the UK economy up to £99bn every year. £42bn of this is as a direct cost to employers lost through sickness absence, presenteeism and staff turnover. We know that there’s a huge human cost related to mental health, but figures from the review show the business case for addressing mental health in the workplace, with proactive employers also reaping the rewards of a more motivated, healthy workforce.
5. It values and promotes a diverse workforce
The Thriving at Work review found that people with long-term mental health problems were leaving jobs at twice the rate of colleagues who don’t have mental health problems. Whether this was because they felt unsupported by their employer or unable to access suitable treatment, the human and economic cost cannot be ignored. Promoting good mental health at work is also a key part of being a responsible employer that values the contribution of their employees. Forward-thinking employers recognise the benefits of recruiting and retaining a talented and diverse workforce, including people who might be experiencing a mental health problem.
Without effective mental health resources in place, it will cost your organization your best employees. The silver lining is that we have the technology, data, and resources to do so.
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Reference:
https://www.iod.com/news/news/articles/Five-reasons-why-mental-health-in-the-workplace-matters