Mental Health and Wellbeing at Work

The importance of a positive attitude towards mental health in the workplace has been highlighted many times over recent years.

Businesses acknowledge its significance to the workforce and employee productivity and are taking steps to make sure that they’re promoting positive mental health in the workplace.

According to Acas, 1 in 4 adults in the workplace experience a form of mental health problem at some point in their lives. It’s important for employers to take some steps to promote positive mental health around the office. It’s also important for them to provide adequate support to employees who may be experiencing mental ill health.

Mentalhealth.org also went on to estimate that up to 70 million days are lost each year as a result of mental health problems in the work place. This figure is said to cost employers approximately £2.4 billion every year.  

With that in mind, it’s essential to understand mental health and have a plan in place to identify and support your employees who might be experiencing mental ill health.

Understanding mental health

Unfortunately, the stigma around mental health has made it so that some employers feel that they’d be uncomfortable talking to their employees about their mental health. This leads employees to feel like they shouldn’t feel the way they feel and they’ll be judged by colleagues or management if they share their experience.

Mental ill health is very common and understanding it can make all the difference to your organisation. Creating an encouraging environment where workers feel comfortable talking about mental health can have a positive impact on your company.

Employees with good mental health are more productive, engaged and loyal to your company. You’re also more likely to retain employees when they know that the company culture promotes positive mental health.

When your staff feel like they’re not able to talk to their managers or colleagues about problems that they may be having, they’re more likely to come into work when they’re too ill to effectively carry out the duties required of them.

This also leads to issues surrounding presenteeism as well as some health and safety concerns.

When mental ill health is left untreated, it can cause secondary symptoms. Examples include: depression, mood swings, lack of care for physical health, withdrawal symptoms and more.

Mental health and the law

There are a variety of regulations that protect employees’ mental health at work. From the freedom of expression act to health and safety regulations, these acts contributing to keeping your staff both physically and mentally healthy.

One of many such regulations is the Equality act of 2010. Under this act, the definition of ‘disability’ includes ongoing mental health problems.

In order to be classed as ‘disabled’, employees must have a ‘substantial or long-term impairment that limits their ability to carry out every-day tasks. The law protects individuals with mental health problems from discrimination and harassment.

It also entitles workers to reasonable adjustments to enable them to carry out their job. This is intended to level the playing field by removing barriers to the job that’s provided by the effect of their mental health.

Some examples of reasonable adjustments include changing work patterns, providing special equipment or making alternative plans for client meetings.

Value of mental health at work

There’s a number of things that can be done at work to encourage employees to join in the conversation about mental health.

While it can take some time to change the organisation’s culture, there are steps that you could take to promote positive mental health and to open up discussions around mental health. This includes;

Promoting wellbeing: Adjustments to company culture can boost employee wellbeing and engagement. Try to embed mental health into your company induction and employee training. Educate them on managing mental health, provide them with resources that could offer support when needed.

Involve staff in decision making: There’s a link between employee engagement and their wellbeing. A mind.org survey on work-related stress shows that more than one in five employees has called in sick to avoid going into work when they feel stressed. 30% of the same employees also feel that they aren’t able to talk to their employers or managers if they were feeling stressed.

Involving staff members in the decision making process within an organisation increases motivation and helps them understand how their roles fits into the overall objectives of the business. Using employee surveys, focus groups, diversity networks, team retreats and more, you’ll be able to get an idea of areas within the business that contribute to employees’ mental ill health.

Company Culture: Regular discussions with staff members about their mental health goes a long way to creating a culture of openness. Consider a reoccurring meeting where employees can talk about their wellbeing and issues that may be causing stress.

Work/life balance: Promoting a healthy balance between employees’ work life and personal life has a positive impact on their wellbeing. While longer working hours may seem manageable at first, you may begin to notice a decline in employee productivity if maintained long-term. Consider encouraging your staff to work sensible hours, take some time off to rest after a busy period at work, and to avoid working at weekends and at home.

Peninsula Group Limited

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