2 Awesome Things To Do If Your Company Doesn’t Have A Mental Wellbeing Budget

Right now, through our monthly Employee Wellbeing executive roundtable discussions with HR senior practitioners and leaders, we hear that even though employee wellbeing in the workplace is valued, there is widespread concern that HR departments still “do not have the budget’ for wellbeing strategies. In addition, the recent knock-on effects of inflation have left HR leaders increasingly conflicted about what employee initiatives to prioritise.??

Nevertheless, we can’t minimise the importance of good mental health in times of uncertainty, we already saw what that looked like over the past couple of years with COVID.

Remember that Deloitte 2020 report? It showed that a staggering 70 million work days are lost each year due to poor mental health, costing the UK economy ￡45 billion per year. Let’s sit with that for a moment.? ￡45 billion. It’s clear that there is a business cost to NOT taking definitive action. How much do you suppose poor mental health has already cost your business this year??

So what can HR leaders do if they are torn between wanting to prioritise mental health, but aren’t able to allocate budget to this area???

We’re recommending two main options here:???

1. Prove it! Calculate the monetary cost of inaction and approach senior leadership for support?

You must prove to your senior leadership that wellbeing is an investment that makes good business sense. Start by calculating the cost of stress-related absences for example in your business over the past 12-18 months. It’s very likely you’ll find the cost of of fixing the problem of stress-related absences will significantly cheaper than the cost of not taking action.?

If your company budget for the year has come and gone and your company has not allotted a workable wellbeing budget, then then try option two below.???

2. Equip line managers with the tools to talk openly about mental health, and signpost employees to mental health support??

Managers are often the first port of call for employees who are struggling with mental health, and in addition have the authority to make reasonable adjustments to help them recover.?

Training and coaching line managers to empathically performance manage their teams, has proven to be one of the most effective and pre-emptive way to intercept mental health issues at an early stage and the good news is that this training falls under the purview and budget for leadership development.??

Employees with managers who had had a robust relevant mental health training and coaching have seen a massive reduction in anxiety, stress, and low engagement, in their teams, as well as an increase in overall positive wellbeing, performance and productivity.??

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So, here’re some questions for you to assess the mental health of your workplace right now:?

• Are your managers able to accurately identify early signs of chronic stress and low productivity in their teams before it affects performance and morale??
• Can your managers confidently navigate uncomfortable conversations with employees experiencing a wide range of life challenges such as divorce, menopause, financial worries????
• Do your managers have robust knowledge of your company resources and external services to appropriately sign post employees for support??

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If the answers to any of these questions is ‘No, Not sure, or Maybe’, then schedule a complementary call with us here.??

We can talk you through our ‘Rise of the New Leader’ Leadership programme, which has helped many organisations we have worked with to equips managers with the tools they need foster a culture of openness and psychological safety in the post-pandemic workplace.?