How to create a culture of openness around mental health
Our latest research revealed that 42 per cent of employees are masking mental health related sick days as a physical illness. This highlights the need for an open workplace culture and provision of support around mental health. With 79 per cent admitting that their employer does not offer dedicated mental health assistance, the lack of support has led to an average of 8.4 sick days taken each year, per employee, due to poor mental health – causing an increasing strain on the UK’s workforce.
What issues do employees face?
Many are reluctant to discuss their mental health with a manager, due to fears that it could affect promotion, result in poor grading, or worries of judgment. Unfortunately, this only reinforces the stigma surrounding mental health.
What should employers do?
In order to challenge this stigma, employers must focus on creating a workplace culture that is open and supportive.
Early intervention strategies create this environment and establish the mechanisms needed to support employees’ mental health. These mechanisms include, an open culture, the provision of mental health first-aiders or nominated individuals, access to specialist expertise via a robust EAP or occupational health services, and a formal policy to assist the employer.
These strategies are incredibly valuable for employers and, more importantly, their employees, offering crucial support at the initial stage.
How can employers create an open culture?
An open culture is key to addressing mental health in the workplace. Employers must begin to address this taboo topic within the workplace.
This has to start from the top, with strong commitment from the leadership team. The culture must be enabling, or people will feel like they can’t engage and discuss issues of this nature with colleagues, management or designated individuals.
Personal stories or engagement via initiatives, such as awareness days, can encourage people to come forward. At this stage, individuals then have to be reassured that their issues will be treated with confidentiality.
Regular communication about mental health during one-to-one lunches, or team meetings, can also encourage staff to open up. Breaking the silence is the first-step towards combating the stigma attached to mental health.
Why is it important?
Now is the time for businesses to look at their current approach to mental health and make improvements where necessary. It is the employer’s responsibility to eradicate the stigma that currently exists in the workplace by creating an open culture, and introducing measures to support employee wellbeing. By prioritising mental health, employers could see a huge transformation in staff engagement, retention and even productivity.
BHSF undertook its latest research during Mental Health Awareness Week. The full findings will be released in a lite report in the coming weeks.
The author is Dr Philip McCrea, leading consultant in occupational mental health and chief medical officer at BHSF.
This article was provided by BHSF.
