FOCUS FEATURE


MENTAL HEALTH IN THE WORKPLACE This is a crucial point for Nicole. She puts people at the


heart of her mental health first aid courses and bespoke wellbeing programmes – the first port of call is training managers to spot the signs of distress so they can spark a conversation with people who need support – but is keen to stress the bottom-line impact for the businesses that hire her services. Mental health issues were costing UK employers £45bn


per year by the beginning of 2020, a 16% rise on 2017, according to Deloitte – which estimates the return on investment for mental health initiatives has risen from £4 to £5 for every pound spent during the same period. “A lot of companies are fearful about this subject,” says


Nicole. “There was a lot of good work going on before the pandemic to change this culture but now it’s shone a light on the actions that need to be taken. There’s a moral rationale but also a solid business case.”


PINNACLE WELLBEING SERVICES is another company engaged in helping businesses deal with mental health challenges. Like Hope Health, much of


its training takes place in the mind, with a big emphasis on using body language and voice to better connect with people. Recognising many SMEs don’t always have spare capacity in their budgets or time to offer sufficient support, its wellbeing training has been adapted into an e-learning package so employees can complete it in their own time. CEO Richard Reid, who grew Pinnacle out of a therapy


PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES


Recognition is growing about the link between physical and mental health, believes wellbeing expert Richard Holmes (pictured). The director of wellbeing at Westfield Health has already noticed more businesses


identifying the need to bring these two concepts closer together in their approach to employee welfare over the past year, and expects to see more of this post-pandemic. He also anticipates more investment in turning managers into “health leaders” as companies count the cost of losing staff to mental health-related sick days.


Richard says: “If we don’t have the right


environment around us, everything else we do will be ineffective. People who have a good diet, sleep well and exercise regularly are more resilient to the mental health challenges they might be facing. “Likewise, poor mental health is a precursor to


poor physical health – if you’re anxious or feeling down, then all the bad habits and reducing physical activity come into play. “We’ve seen mental health really dominate the


agenda for a lot of organisations but now we’ll see a move back towards prioritising physical health in recognition that they need to take a holistic approach to health and wellbeing.”


Pinnacle Wellbeing Services CEO Richard Reid


IN WESTFIELD HEALTH’S Coping with Covid report, published in February 2021 after surveying 1,600 employees and HR leaders across England about their workplace health and wellbeing, it found a 10% rise in mental health-related absence. This cost businesses at least £14bn – probably much more due to under-reporting. This is despite sickness levels falling to their lowest levels on record last year, with


the Office for National Statistics reporting a drop from 1.9% to 1.8% in 2020. Richard believes the issue of “presenteeism”, where people work despite ill health,


business in 2005, says: “It’s all about culture because if this isn’t right, people don’t feel like they can be themselves. People will always fall through the cracks if they don’t feel like they can speak up.” As well as making people generally more aware and


sympathetic to mental health issues, he believes the pandemic has created a more democratic environment in many organisations where employees at all levels feel able to feed back their experiences. “The challenge will be that as we come out of lockdown


and a lot of people feel anxious about returning to the workplace, how businesses respond to this,” adds Richard. “A lot of employees will remember how their


organisations treated them throughout this period and there’s every chance people will walk once the job market picks up again. “So while it might be tempting for companies to put this


whole experience behind them and plough on as they did before, it’s a great opportunity to take stock and do things differently in future.”


and the tendency to work beyond contracted hours that’s known as “leavism”, also mask the true scale of the problem. “There’s pressure on presenteeism and leavism during the pandemic because people


are anxious about being seen to be doing their job well by their employer,” he says. “Undoubtedly the move to homeworking has also exasperated the issue of ‘leavism’ because we lose our routine that comes from commuting and the structure of a workplace. One of the problems with leavism is that it tends to drive fatigue, which in turn reduces our physical resilience – and if that happens, we lose our ability to cope with mental health issues.” The Westfield report found that a quarter of employees want extra wellbeing


support from their employer and more than a third of the workforce said their mental health affects productivity on a weekly basis. As a result, 81% of HR leaders had increased their wellbeing focus during the pandemic. Richard, who believes line managers will play a key role in embedding a culture that


enables wellbeing initiatives to succeed, adds: “Covid has underlined to employers how important their people’s health is to their business health. “They’re now investing more than they ever have in their staff because they recognise the relationship between morale, productivity and performance.”


MENTAL HEALTH WORKPLACE RESOURCES


Mental Health Productivity Pilot (MHPP) The three-year, pan-regional project, funded by the Midlands Engine, signposts businesses to established initiatives that can help employees’ mental health, while companies can sign up to other pilots for trilling new workplace interventions. Visit www.mhpp.me


Wellbeing at Work Charter Leicester-Shire and Rutland Sport (LBS) offers an accreditation scheme for employers across Leicestershire and Rutland that want to take a lead in supporting staff wellbeing. The charter is a step-by-step process that includes training and workshop opportunities,


a tracker for monitoring physical activity levels, wellbeing tips, and access to a workplace health needs assessment tool for identifying key priority areas. Visit www.lrsport.org/wellbeingatworkcharter


Workplace wellbeing toolkits MHFA England has a series of resources for workplaces, including information on mental health first aiders, a mental health and wellbeing employer checklist, weekly wellbeing check-up, and guidance for line managers and mentors. Visit mhfaengland.org/mhfa-centre/resources/for-workplaces


54 business network April 2021


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