Sleepless nights, feelings of panic, anxiety and a lack of concentration will never be conducive to an engaged and productive workforce. None of us should have to live with the symptoms of too much mental or emotional pressure on a daily basis, but the reality is that a huge number of employees already are.
According to the Mental Health Taskforce to the NHS in England’s Five Year Forward View for Mental Health, published in February 2016, a staggering one in four adults in the UK will experience a diagnosable mental illness every year, which could include stress, anxiety, depression or bi-polar disorder, and will affect all aspects of their lives, not just their jobs. What is more, many of these people are afraid to speak up about their problems for fear of being stigmatised and marginalised, particularly in the workplace.
For too long, talking about mental health issues has been a taboo subject. Indeed, a survey of 1,251 British workers published by mental health charity Mind in 2014 revealed that nearly a third of British workers say they are not able to talk openly with their line manager if they are stressed and just 45% of those with a diagnosed mental health problem have told their current employer.
Even with high-profile campaigns around the importance of mental wellbeing, people are still reluctant to open up about their personal mental health, particularly to their employers.
If poor mental health goes undetected and undiagnosed, the immediate knock-on effect is absence from work. According to the Office for National Statistics’ Sickness in the labour market report, published in 2014, mental health problems such as stress, depression and anxiety accounted for 15.2 million sick days in 2013.
And this paints just a small part of the full picture. Due to the stigma attached to mental ill-health, 95% of British employees who took time off work due to stress told their boss there was another reason for their absence, according to the aforementioned Mind research.
So, if the majority of employees are currently conditioned to suffer in silence, what can be done? Well, a dive into the data could raise red flags of poor mental wellbeing among the workforce. Absence statistics, high levels of staff turnover, and increases in complaints and grievances can all point towards low levels of engagement and productivity.
Understanding the prevalence of mental ill-health also should include an assessment of the current workforce through staff surveys, identifying anyone at risk of mental ill-health or reflecting on any business decisions which could lead to a detrimental effect on mental health. Is the business digging that bit deeper to understand what the engagement and retention metrics really mean?
While there are no hard and fast rules, there are many subsequent steps employers can take, and a better understanding of the mental health issues within their organisation will provide guidance for the workplace adjustments that could be made to improve the situation.
Flexible working, alterations to return-to-work policies or the introduction of quiet rooms are all solutions within an HR professional’s toolkit to help respond to this worrying trend that UK employers must do more to combat. Other options include introducing mediation, buddy systems, workload management or extra coaching and training but, fundamentally, any HR policy to tackle mental-ill health must be holistic, flexible and appropriate.
For all the statistics in play, though, the ‘human factor’ cannot be underestimated and employees must be seen and treated as individuals, rather than automatons that leave their personalities at the office door each morning. This positive, personal mindset will go a long way towards organisations creating a supportive environment that recognises the importance of mental health.
Meesha Birch is xx at Simplyhealth
