" Excellent Course.
I wish I had done it earlier.
I would recommend this course to anyone."
Why Invest?
Why invest
in Mental Health?
In 2016 Mental Health Foundation
found that improved health and wellbeing support in the workplace can create savings of as much as £8 billion a year.
We are all susceptible to changes in mental health. The workplace is key as we spend a large proportion of our lives at work and therefore our employer has the power to reduce the severity of some mental health issues by recognising the need for support and working proactively with individuals.
Mental Health Foundation states that "promoting wellbeing at work through personalised information and advice, a risk-assessment questionnaire, seminars, workshops and web-based materials will cost approximately £80 per employee per year. For a company with 500 employees, where all employees undergo the intervention, it is estimated that an initial investment of £40,000 will result in a net return of £347,722 in savings, mainly due to reduced presenteeism (lost productivity that occurs due to an employee working while ill) and absenteeism (missing work due to ill health)."
In some cases it may only take a tweak in workload, a little flexibility, some information/guidance, an understanding colleague and/or a lack of stigma for the business to be able to retain a fully productive team member.
In other cases longer timelines and greater support will be needed. However, this should not be seen as an issue to overcome for firms but an opportunity. By caring for employees firms' benefits are substantial:
- Reduced absenteeism,
- Reduced presenteeism,
- Great team cohesiveness,
- Increased productivity,
- Increased retention,
- Increased loyalty,
- Better moral,
- Increased discussion and problem solving,
- Increased commitment and trust,
- A fulfilment of moral obligation.
We are all susceptible to changes in mental health. The workplace is key as we spend a large proportion of our lives at work and therefore our employer has the power to reduce the severity of some mental health issues by recognising the need for support and working proactively with individuals.
Mental Health Foundation states that "promoting wellbeing at work through personalised information and advice, a risk-assessment questionnaire, seminars, workshops and web-based materials will cost approximately £80 per employee per year. For a company with 500 employees, where all employees undergo the intervention, it is estimated that an initial investment of £40,000 will result in a net return of £347,722 in savings, mainly due to reduced presenteeism (lost productivity that occurs due to an employee working while ill) and absenteeism (missing work due to ill health)."
In some cases it may only take a tweak in workload, a little flexibility, some information/guidance, an understanding colleague and/or a lack of stigma for the business to be able to retain a fully productive team member.
In other cases longer timelines and greater support will be needed. However, this should not be seen as an issue to overcome for firms but an opportunity. By caring for employees firms' benefits are substantial:
- Reduced absenteeism,
- Reduced presenteeism,
- Great team cohesiveness,
- Increased productivity,
- Increased retention,
- Increased loyalty,
- Better moral,
- Increased discussion and problem solving,
- Increased commitment and trust,
- A fulfilment of moral obligation.
The Reward & Employee Benefits Association, REBA, states that 78% of U.K. companies will have a specific wellbeing strategy in place by the early 2020s. This is because businesses are increasingly seeing the financial sense in investing in their key resource.
Some common misconceptions
“If we start offering Mental Health support, everyone will claim they have an issue and we will lose productivity!”
Your business already has people suffering from mental health issues. They are probably expending a huge amount of energy hiding these for fear of discrimination, being pushed out of work and therefore creating additional stress to their lives and a considerable loss of effectiveness to you. It may be those mental health symptoms are manifesting themselves in physical symptoms which is common too. Employers may therefore suffer from ineffective activities such as unnecessary absenteeism, poorer quality work, missed deadlines, poorer communication, breakdown of work relationships etc.
“We don’t have any mental health issues at our place of work”.
That may be the case but it’s unlikely to stay that way. Work may be a haven of peace and enjoyment for your employees with sensible levels of work and stress however we all have lives outside of work and, as much as we may try to keep them separate, problems elsewhere can impact our lives and therefore lead to stress within work hours too.
“It’s going to require too much investment of resource.”
Yes it will involves time and some effort, however have a qualified Mental Health First Aider, investing in information points and setting boundaries about use of language creates a much nicer working environment, as well as the benefits of increasingly well being and therefore productivity.
“If we start offering Mental Health support, everyone will claim they have an issue and we will lose productivity!”
Your business already has people suffering from mental health issues. They are probably expending a huge amount of energy hiding these for fear of discrimination, being pushed out of work and therefore creating additional stress to their lives and a considerable loss of effectiveness to you. It may be those mental health symptoms are manifesting themselves in physical symptoms which is common too. Employers may therefore suffer from ineffective activities such as unnecessary absenteeism, poorer quality work, missed deadlines, poorer communication, breakdown of work relationships etc.
“We don’t have any mental health issues at our place of work”.
That may be the case but it’s unlikely to stay that way. Work may be a haven of peace and enjoyment for your employees with sensible levels of work and stress however we all have lives outside of work and, as much as we may try to keep them separate, problems elsewhere can impact our lives and therefore lead to stress within work hours too.
“It’s going to require too much investment of resource.”
Yes it will involves time and some effort, however have a qualified Mental Health First Aider, investing in information points and setting boundaries about use of language creates a much nicer working environment, as well as the benefits of increasingly well being and therefore productivity.
Excellent course, very informative, a good mix of participation and tutor led sessions