what can employers do to help employees thrive

We have been having a read through a recent report published on the behalf of the UK government looking at mental health in the workplace and how employers can better support the mental health of all employees.

The report has raised some interesting and perhaps alarming statistics, but has also laid some very clear recommendations for both private and public employers for how they can support the government to put mental health at the forefront of their agenda.

The report revealed that the UK is suffering from a much larger mental health problem than previously thought, with a cost to the individual, the employer and the wider UK economy coming in at billions of pounds

At a time when productivity is the national focus, it is impossible to ignore the conclusion that mental health needs investment and the UK actually cannot afford the productivity cost of poor mental health.

One of the problems is presenteeism, where people are turning up to work despite being unwell. This leads to low productivity, high sickness rates and high staff turnover, which comes at a huge cost to both the individual and the employer. In fact, the report reveals that 300,000 people with a long term mental health condition leave their jobs each year, which is the equivalent of the population of Newcastle or Belfast.

The report puts most of the responsibility on employers in the private and public sector.

“To quote Sir Simon Wessely, past President of The Royal College of Psychiatrists, “You own it!”, meaning that employers can create a positive and supportive workplace culture themselves, free from stigma.”

Factors which will help the implementation of these mental health core standards:

  1. Increasing employer transparency which requires strong leadership, and is measurable.
  2. Increased transparency will help to lead to a culture of measurement, with voluntary ranking schemes to drive accountability and further improvement
  3. The public sector employs 5.4 million people and has a huge opportunity to lead the way

So what does the report recommend for employers?

The report recommends that ALL employers adopt the following mental health core standards.

The standards have been designed to be accessible to all workplaces regardless of size, so can be delivered by all employers, perhaps delivered in a proportionate way depending on the size and type of business.

The report states that all employers can and should:

  1. Produce, implement and communicate a mental health at work plan
  2. Develop mental health awareness among employees
  3. Encourage open conversations about mental health and the support available when employees are struggling
  4. Provide your employees with good working conditions
  5. Promote effective people management
  6. Routinely monitor employee mental health and wellbeing.

Enhanced standards for public sector and large employers

In addition to these core standards, the report recommends that all public sector employers and any private companies employing over 500 employees (of which there are around 3500), deliver the following enhanced standards.

If this is successful, 46% of employees can be reached with the following standards:

  1. Increase transparency and accountability through internal and external reporting.
  2. Demonstrate accountability
  3. Improve the disclosure process
  4. Ensure provision of tailored in-house mental health support and signposting to clinical help

What does this all mean for the future?

Alongside physical wellbeing, the government are now finally recognising the importance (and cost) to the economy of mental wellbeing and this report serves to highlight how under-recognised this is. With government backing and a strong movement in general society, mental health is becoming less of a stigma and is moving towards something which can be discussed openly.

Bringing this into organisational culture can be a little trickier – there is a level of education needed to ensure employees at all levels of the organisation have a deeper understanding of mental health. There is also a serious culture change needed to switch this from stigma to normality, particularly in larger or more traditional organisations and industries.

You can read the full report with the full set of standards and recommendations here.

Introducing a cultural change in your organisation

Hopefully you’re reading this with an acceptance that mental health does need to be given the time of day and should be recognised as just another element of our day-to-day wellbeing. For many people and organisations, there is still a huge amount of stigma attached to mental health conditions and they find themselves in a culture where it is very hard to be open about any concerns.

In many ways, this is the hardest bit to change; the culture. This is where Brightstone come in! We have years of experience working with organisations, private and public, to introduce both small and seismic shifts to their organisational culture! We can help you to be the change you want to see and create a better environment for your companies future!

To find out more about how we can get started with you, speak to Richard at Brightstone.

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