MENTAL HEALTH & WELLBEING A HOLISTIC APPROACH
Taking care of the mental as well as physical health of your workforce should always be seen as a key priority for businesses. Work-related stress is one of the most common causes of workplace absences, and the knock-on
effects can be extremely costly if they are not managed correctly.
However, just as with physical safety
measures, mental health policies need to be regularly reviewed and updated. The needs and circumstances of your workers are changing all the time, and as an employer, you must adopt an evolving approach to workplace wellbeing to make sure you are meeting their needs.
THE KEY PRIORITY The key to delivering good mental health support is
creating a fully comprehensive wellbeing strategy that caters for all. This may be challenging at a time when many organisations are dealing with reduced budgets due to difficult economic circumstances, but the costs of
Alana Warburton-Whitehead, Wellbeing Lead at Lanes Group, explores the reasons why a new approach to mental health may be needed for businesses in 2023, and explains the factors that employers should consider when creating a truly forward-thinking strategy.
failing to invest in this area are potentially much higher.
In most cases, people who are struggling with their mental health are not in this situation because of any one single cause. It could be a consequence of: their family life or personal circumstances; concerns about their children; dissatisfaction with where they live; religious concerns; health worries; feelings of being discriminated against; or medical reasons. As an employer, you cannot control all of these factors, but it is still important to be aware of how they affect each staff member.
Failing to provide mental health support that helps to support people and actually addresses the underlying reasons as to why people are unhappy will lead to a rise in work-related stress and sick leave. This, in turn, can lead to a higher turnover of staff, and additional costs due to recruitment expenses and lost time that companies simply cannot afford.
WHAT FACTORS NEED TO BE CONSIDERED? Employers should be looking to review and update their
mental health support policies to take the following factors into account:
Physical health concerns You should have a good understanding of any long- term physical health issues that might affect your workers’ mood and wellbeing. Naturally, this should include chronic health conditions, but it should also
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