Reasons to invest in mental health in the workplace
The UK cost of mental ill health in the workplace each year is
£29 billion Presenteeism £7 billion sickness absence £8.6 billion staff turnover
Mental health and employers: Refreshing the case for investment – Deloitte – January 2020
Poor mental health costs UK employers up to £45bn a year, with presenteeism taking the biggest toll.
A report from Deloitte and mental health charity Mind estimated that presenteeism – defined by the research as staff turning up to work despite being unwell for mental health reasons – cost UK employers between £26bn and £29bn annually through lost productivity.
This was around four times the cost associated with absences owing to mental ill-health, and about three times that associated with mental health-related staff turnover, estimated at £6.8bn and £8.6bn respectively.
''On average, for every £1 spent on supporting their people’s mental health, employers get £5 back on their investment. Interventions with the highest return tend to be focus on preventative large-scale initiatives ''
Presenteeism costs UK business each year £29 billion
The term “presenteeism” is used to describe the issue of employees coming into work while not physically or mentally well, instead of staying home to recover. This can impact on performance and productivity if people don’t take time off when needed.
There are many motives for Presenteeism including money, management expectation, nobody to cover work and concern over career prospects. Feeling the need to turn up to work when unwell can potentially make conditions worsen.
How presenteeism can affects performance
- finding it difficult to concentrate
- taking longer to do tasks
- having difficulty making decisions
- finding it more difficult juggling a number of tasks
- being less patient with customers or clients
- putting off challenging work
- being more likely to get into conflict with others
British businesses lost an average of 38 working days per employee to physical and mental health related absence and presenteeism in 2019 – added to the start of this year, that makes today, February 21st, the UK’s ‘first productive day'
Vitality’s annual Britain’s Healthiest Workplace study -2020
Nearly two thirds of employees say they’d feel more motivated if their employer took action to support mental health and wellbeing.
Sickness absence
The costs UK business each year £7 billion
Stress, depression or anxiety accounted for 44% of all work related mental ill health
90% feel unable to tell their employer that mental health was the reason for absence
15.8 millions days of sickness absence caused by mental health issues each year
48% of people said they would be embarrassed when asking for a mental health sick day
Leaveism
”Leaveism is a term that describes the growing tendency of individuals to be unable to ‘switch off’ from work. It is becoming increasingly common as working remotely and flexible working have been become easier thanks to technology, and can lead to overworking, a reduction in workforce moral, and burnout”
51%
of employees work outside contracted hours to get work done
36%
of employees use allocated time off (holidays) when unwell
27%
of employees use allocated time off (holidays) to work
Mental health and employers: Refreshing the case for investment – Deloitte – January 2020
''On average, for every £1 spent on supporting their people’s mental health, employers get £5 back on their investment in reduced presenteeism, absenteeism and staff turnover''
Mental health and employers: Refreshing the case for investment – Deloitte – January 2020
Staff Turnover
The costs UK business each year £8.6 billion
Minimising the risk of losing valued employees is another reason to invest in mental health at work.
Almost 25% of people have left their job due to mental health issues.
31% of staff said that they would consider leaving their current role within the next 12 months if stress levels in their organisation did not improve.
Retaining the good employees is important, not only for the contingently of the business but the cost to replace them.
The average cost of recruiting new staff can range from between £6,000 and £2,000. This figure does not include the the investment in training that is lost when employees leave (CIPD 2017).
Last year almost 1 in 4 people have left their job due to mental health issues. And 31% said they would consider leaving in the next 12 months if stress leaves at work did not improve.
Mental health at work: How staff feel
Nearly two thirds of employees say they’d feel more motivated if their employer took action to support mental health and wellbeing.
85% of managers acknowledge that employee wellbeing is their responsibility but only 30% of line managers report that they have received any training
61%
of employees have experienced mental health issues due to work or where work was a related factor
64%
of managers have had to put the interests of their organisation above staff wellbeing at some point
11%
of respondents who disclosed a mental health issue subsequently faced disciplinary action, demotion or dismissal
16%
of employees felt able to disclose a mental health issue to their manager
Mental Health at Work 2018 Report – Seizing the Momentum
Mental Health Training works!
There are numerous case studies of how implementing mental health training in the work place has helped organisation thrive. One of the latest reports is here:
MENTOR: MENtal health first aid in The wORkplace 2018
Researchers surveyed 139 participants from 81 organisations across England. The organisations were spread across 20 different industries in the private, public and third sectors.
Participants were asked what had changed in their workplaces as a result of MHFA England training. Responses included:
– 91% said there had been an increased understanding of mental health issues in their workplace
– 88% increased confidence around mental health issues
– 87% said more mental health conversations were happening at work
– 83% had noticed an improvement in procedures for signposting to further support
