How Employee Mental Health Impacts Operational Efficiency

This blog reveals the shocking statistics about mental health in the workplace, how employee mental health impacts your organisation and how you can improve mental wellbeing in your business.

Mental Health Statistics

The impact the mental health of employees has on businesses tends to be underestimated, but here are the statistics that prove it has a significant effect.

• 49% of line managers would appreciate basic training in common mental health conditions.
• In 2015/16 stress accounted for 37% of all work-related ill health cases and 45% of all working days lost due to ill health.
• Only 11% of employees discussed a recent mental health problem with their line manager.
• It is estimated that 1 in 6 people in the past week experienced a common mental health problem. (source)
• 76% of line managers believe they are responsible for employee wellbeing, but only 22% have received any support from their company.

How Employee Mental Health Impacts Your Organisation

If you have an employee, who is experiencing mental health issues the productivity of that worker will be lower and could also affect other members of staff and their productivity levels. Sometimes poor mental wellbeing of employees can even impact your bottom line, if the employee has issues with a client or cannot engage with potential customers, you could be losing money.

None of these things will reflect well on your business, it’s important that you engage and educate your staff on matters of mental health.

How Your Business Can Improve Mental Wellbeing

As an employer, it’s crucial to address anything that could potentially be contributing to the reduction of mental state and wellbeing of your employees. Poor management, unrealistic deadlines and overwhelming pressure can cause an increase in stress levels, contribute to your absence rate and sometimes your employee retention. To help you improve the mental wellbeing of your workforce here are some helpful tips:

• Clarify every employee’s role and responsibility, set realistic expectations and manage their workloads appropriately. 
• Provide counselling sessions and support for staff who are going through a difficult time, be supportive and encourage open communication, especially on matters of mental wellbeing.
• Enforce a strict no-tolerance policy on workplace bullying and always follow the formal procedures when issues in the workplace arise. Staff ability to recognise when bullying is taking place is essential.
• Promote activities that will have a positive impact on employee mental health such as daily meditation or breaks.
• Train key members of staff in mental health first aid so that you have in-house knowledge for support and guidance.
• Encourage workers to talk about their feelings to help remove the stigma that mental health problems face in both professional and personal lives.

If you want to learn more about improving your employee mental health and overall business wellbeing, read our blog ‘How To Create A Wellbeing Strategy For Your Organisation‘.