Good health is good business: the case for investing in the good management of employees with mental health problems

 

"The Health and Wellbeing of our employees is critical to the success of our business.”

 

(Andrew Main, CEO, Aramark quoted on Business in the Community health and wellbeing programme)

 

Poor mental health is very common. At any one time, one in three of the working-age population may be experiencing some kind of distress or mental health condition such as depression or anxiety.  Research by the Centre for Mental Health in 2007, estimated that the cost of mental health problems to business was over £1,000 per employee per year. This took into account lost working days through sickness absence, reduced productivity by employees underperforming at work (also known as ‘presenteeism’) and the cost of replacing staff who leave their jobs due to mental ill-health.

 

The cost to the wider economy is even greater since mental ill-health is now the most common reason for claiming health-related benefits and 86 per cent remain on the benefits for more than three months (compared to 76 per cent for all other claimants).  In addition, there is the cost of lost production and the cost of treatment and care which could be as high as £30-40 billion per year. 

Even though these figures are bleak and should be of concern in the current economic climate, most senior managers underestimate the effect of mental ill health in their workplace.   It follows then, that if senior management do not think that mental ill health is an issue, then they are probably also failing to recognise that there are key steps they can take to support and promote good mental health and wellbeing in the workplace. 

 

"All organizations say routinely 'People are our greatest asset'.  Yet few practise what they preach, let alone truly believe it."

 

(Peter Drucker 1995 p77, Drucker P.F. (1995) Managing in a Time of Great Change, Butterworth-Heinemann,)

 

 

Links to resources:

 

 

Mental Health at Work: Developing the business case

Centre for Mental Health, 2007

This paper examines the importance to employers of mental health problems in the workforce.  It draws on UK and international evidence to quantify the costs of mental ill health at work.  It concludes that it makes good business sense to develop good policies and practice to improve the management of mental health in the workplace.

 

 

Working our way to better mental health: a framework for action

Department for Work and Pensions, 2009

This cross government strategy is built on the conclusion that there is a positive link between employment and mental health.  It draws on the work of Dame Carol Black, National Director for Health and Work, as well as others. 

 

 

Realising ambitions: Better employment support for people with a mental health condition

Rachel Perkins, Paul Farmer and Paul Litchfield

Department for Work and Pensions, December 2009

This review was commissioned by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to look at mental health and employment and to identify how Government could help people with mental health conditions fulfil their employment ambitions.  Appendix 4 summarises the business case for employment and people with a mental health condition. 

 

 

Mental health: the last workplace taboo

Shaw Trust, 2006

The Shaw Trust commissioned research carried out by the Future Foundation among 550 employers.  It concludes that most employersunderestimate the extent to which employees and fellow managers are experiencing stress, anxiety, depression and other forms of mental ill-health.

 

 

Recognising and responding to mental health problems in the workplace: why beyondblue?

Centre for Mental Health

This summarises the pilot work in the UK which uses an evidence based training programme for line managers based on the beyondblue initiative developed in Australia

 

 

Building the case for wellness

Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP, 2008

This report was commissioned by Government Health Work Wellbeing Executive to carry out research into the business case for workplace wellness programmes in the UK.  The report’s findings are based on a mixture of systematic literature reviews, case studies and follow up interviews.  

 

 

Time to change

Is an ambitious programme to end discrimination faced by people who experience mental health problems.  The programme is a partnership between the national mental health charities, MIND and Rethink, and is evaluated by the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College, London.  The website includes information specifically for employers.  The ‘healthy profits’ section has case studies from Business in the Community and the Government’s Health Work Wellbeing initiative.

 


MIND

MIND is a national mental health charity in England and Wales.  It offers a range of services and resources including consultancy services aimed at developing ‘The business case for addressing mental health at work’.  These sessions are designed to raise the issue of mental health in the workplace with senior executives and presents the basis for a business case for tackling the most common mental health problems in the workplace.

 

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© 2011 Royal College of Psychiatrists