A failure to properly support employees wellbeing and mental health could cost businesses £42 billion per year
Take a look around your workplace. How does everyone seem today? The chances are your colleagues appear settled and focused – and most of them are. But with 1 person in 4 experiencing some form of mental health issue in any given year, it’s an inescapable truth that some are also struggling. This is where mental health awareness and workplace wellbeing come into play.
According to this 2016 report by Great Place to Work, the average UK organisation has wellbeing scores of 53%, compared to 84% at best-in-class organisations with more positive, supportive and inclusive cultures. And the UK Government’s Thriving at Work report (commissioned by PM Theresa May) in October 2017 highlighted how the number of people who are forced to stop work as a result of mental health problems was 50% higher than for those with physical health conditions.
Mental illness is the largest single source of burden of disease in the UK. Research into the impact of mental health at work showed that failure to appropriately support employees could cost businesses as much as £42 billion per year, with a cost of £99 billion to the entire economy with lost output. Nearly 300,000 people with a long-term mental health condition lose their job every year. Mental health issues are responsible for 91 million working days lost in the UK.
