Let’s look at some of the key facts surrounding workplace mental health specifically for you;
- One in three of us will suffer from some form of mental health problem during our lives.
- Mental ill health costs UK employers £34.9 billion per year (MHFA England).
- Mental ill-health costs each employer on average £2,011 per employee, per year (Sainsbury Centre for mental health).
- There are 15.2m sick days per year due to stress, anxiety or depression (Office for national Statistics).
- Only two in five employees are working at peak performance (CIPD) this is commonly referred to as “Presenteeism”.
Mental Health Matters can relate to this from their own combined experiences in running a business, however, there are some very cost effective and basic steps you can take, along with standard strategies that can be implemented as a natural progression, which will provide various returns on your investment. Such as;
- Increased Retention (reducing Attrition).
- Increased Productivity.
- Reduced Recruitment costs.
- Reduced Sickness/Long Term Sick costs.
- Enhanced Workplace Culture.
- Provide, or enhance, Workplace Employee Incentives.
- Brand Appeal – Attracting a higher standard of professional candidates and prospective clients.
- The ‘Feel Good’ factor, as it is the right thing to do!
So what do you do exactly? The key is gaining a better understanding of the subject, identifying what your pinch points are, from the data you have or should you not have any then we can guide you on what steps to take next, then deciding what specific aims you wish to achieve. From this we can assist you in formulating a strategy, which will provide clarity and more importantly, the detailed information for you to be able to make informed decisions on the direction you wish to head and how to disseminate the plan to your management teams and employees.
Everyday we all face a wide variation of Stressors, some of which can lead to positive behaviours and outcomes, whereas the majority, when left to build up inside of us, can lead to negative behaviours and outcomes of varying seriousness. This is also linked to someone’s Resilience and how Resilient they are, with their ability to better manage awkward situations OR whether they have a smaller or larger Stress Container, with the person having a larger Stress Container better managing difficult life events as it doesn’t fill up as quickly, compared to someone who has a smaller container, therefore being less Resilient.
There is a paper exercise that you can do relating to the Stress Container, which is very self reflective and helps you to not only identify your own Stressors, but also what healthy coping strategies that work for you specifically. Visit our Mental Health Training page to download the PDF sheet to print out and work through.
The World Health Organisation has stated that by 2025, Stress and Depression will be the number one health risk to us all, ahead of even Cancer and Diabetes. As human beings, we all have Mental Health just as we all have Physical Health. We can get mentally ill like we can get physically ill and we need to maintain our wellbeing, both physically and mentally in good balance for maximum health and fitness.
Therefore investing in Workplace Mental Health will lead to a reduction in costs to your business, whilst also supporting the most important element to any business, your employees. This need not be seen as an additional cost to your business either, but one that enhances personal development training such as: Leadership, Rapport Building, Communication Skills, Resilience Building and Teamwork.
Learn how and where you can reduce costs to your business, whilst supporting your employees and taking advantage of our free presentation: The Impact Of Mental Health In Business, by completing THIS FORM
