Considering our team and colleagues’ mental health at work.
At Nobull we work with health and wellbeing experts as well as specialists in pets and sleep and personal safety: we reflect on how and why approaches to mental health need to keep changing.
Companies are being urged by Forbes magazine in the US to prioritise the mental health of their employees for their wellbeing but also for the corporate bottom line. Fear of redundancy and toxic workplace cultures are the extreme end of the wedge, but any unhealthy environment or sustained pressure will impact on employee wellbeing, and presenteeism and stress are not good performance indicators.
Investing time and resources to support mental health in the workplace is no longer a nice to have. In the UK today, workplaces are fast-changing environments. We have new dynamics to consider including hybrid working, always-on phone culture, remote working, and increased awareness of neuro-divergence. Add to this that younger team members who have been adversely affected by C-19 lockdowns and the increase in retirement ages and the idea of a homogenous workforce, with similar needs, is completely outdated.
The Mental Health Foundation 2016 report states that “The value added to the economy by people who are at work and have or have had mental health problems is as high as £225 billion per year, which represents 12.1% of the UK’s total GDP.” They champion understanding of mental health issues in the workplace and provide free resources for managers and colleagues. Finding external advice, training and support for line managers and management is a good starting point, to ensure that they are equipped with the tool kit they need, as already happens with first aid training.
UK mental health charity Mind, have campaigned for “If it's okay to not be okay…” to help people to work together to tackle the shame felt by those with mental illness. Their research shows that 56% of those affected feel ashamed and this can lead to people not seeking the help that they need. Employers need to be aware of this and to actively seek to create an anti-stigma environment in the workplace, bearing in mind that certain groups may feel this stigma more than others. In particular men (and young men) can find it difficult to talk about how they are feeling and there’s no one-size fits all approach for different ages and cultural backgrounds.
CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably) have developed some useful self-help materials that can be shared and include advice on how to switch off from work when you are feeling stressed or burned out.
Make sure that everyone knows what to do whether as a supportive colleague or when feeling overwhelmed – new and existing team members should all know what do in a mental health crisis as they would know where the nearest fire escape is or the first aid kit and the policies for this need to be shared by HR or line managers depending on the size of your organisation.
Useful links & numbers:
The Samaritans: 24 hours a day (in full confidence)
Call free on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org.uk
CALM - Call the helpline on 0800 58 58 58
or visit their web chat here
(both open 5pm to midnight, 365 days a year).
If you are considering individual or team fund-raising, please support one or several of these charity organisations who are doing a great job but are under increasing pressure to provide services as state provision is stretched.
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