As an employer, you will no doubt be aware of the impact illness and sickness have on your business. Wouldn’t it be great to eliminate a large percentage of this loss and have in return a happy focused and content workforce who are productive and enjoy their place of work?
Thankfully the tide is turning and many companies large and small are realising the importance of health and wellbeing in the workplace. They see the benefits when it comes to productivity, retention and ultimately employer and employee happiness.
These are just some of the stats taken from governments website for the period of 2021/22:
- Stress, depression or anxiety and musculoskeletal disorders accounted for the majority of days lost due to work-related ill health in 2021/22, 17.0 million and 7.3 million respectively.
- On average, each person suffering took around 16.5 days off work. This varies as follows:
- 10.6 days for Injuries
- 17.2 days for Ill health cases
- 18.6 days for Stress, depression or anxiety
- 15.2 days for Musculoskeletal disorders
Why talking openly about mental health is important
If staff feel they can talk openly about mental health, problems are less likely to build up. This could lead to:
- less time off for a mental health issue
- Improved morale at work
Creating a supportive environment – It’s helpful if employers to create an environment where staff feel able to talk openly about mental health.
For example:
- Treating mental and physical health as equally important.
- Make sure employees have regular one-to-ones with their managers, to talk about any problems they’re having.
- Encouraging positive mental health, for example arranging mental health awareness training, workshops or appointing mental health first aiders whom staff can talk to.
MHFA (Mental Health First Aiders)
Training and appointing members of your workforce as MHFAs (Mental Health First Aiders) is a great way to ensure understanding and encouraging an open culture within your workforce. Catching mental health issues early can have a huge impact on a person’s recovery and may even help to resolve potential issues before they even become an issue. Possibly resulting on the following:
- Increased productivity at work
- Reduced sickness absence
- Improved staff morale
- Pleasant working environment
- Good corporate image
For more information on MHFA training and other services we offer at Working and Wellness click here.