The Business Case for Mental Health and Wellbeing at Work

Reviewing the Business Case for Wellbeing in the Workplace

What would a workplace that enhances mental wellbeing look like? At Minds@Work we are passionate about supporting the move towards healthier and more human workplaces. We believe in a world where doing your job doesn’t contribute towards mental ill health. However, the reality is, as the world transitions to new and different ways of working, there is still a vital need to argue a clear business case for prioritising mental health and wellbeing in the workplace.

With this in mind, during September we've been exploring the business case - why we need one, how to make one, why strategy is important, and what else we ways of working we need to consider in a digital world.

Here you'll find a summary of how the conversation has evolved during the month, as well as links to replays of our virtual events, key takeaways from our speakers, and shared resources we've posted in our free, virtual Minds@Work community.

A quick note about the Minds@Work Community

If you'd like to go straight to the community and get stuck into the conversation, follow this link for a quick and easy sign-up to our free, virtual space, where you can enjoy events, replays, resources, access peer-to-peer support, and continue the discussion about mental health and wellbeing in the workplace: https://minds-work-community.mn.co/

Let's dive into the business case

Without a clear business case organisations, leaders and executives can see mental health and wellbeing initiatives as a cost rather than an investment. The most recent data from 德勤 data points to a different argument. Their report, Mental Health and Employers - The Case for Investment?Pandemic and Beyond revealed that:

• There has been an increase of 25% in the cost of poor mental health to employers in 2022 compared to 2019.
• The cost to employers of poor mental health has increased to up to ￡56bn in 2020-21 compared to ￡45bn in 2019.
• 28% of employees have either left in 2021 or are planning to leave their jobs in 2022, with 61% citing poor mental health as the reason they are leaving.
• The average cost of poor mental health in each sector worked out at ￡1,652 per employee per year in the private sector, rising to ￡1,716 in the public sector

However, rather than simply an additional cost, Deloitte's research points out that:

• Employers could see a return of ￡5.30 on average for every ￡1 invested in staff wellbeing.

Reviewing the Business Case event

Minds@Work Co-founders Geoff McDonald and Georgie Mack , both experienced in supporting organisations to make the business case for mental health and wellbeing initiatives, hosted a virtual event to share their experience and offer some thoughts on practical steps forwards. You can watch the replay here (free join up required).

Top takeaways from Georgie and Geoff:

?? Geoff introduces a framework to help organisations understand how to better plan and implement wellbeing and mental health strategies in the workplace here .

?? An engagement survey does not measure how ABLE people are to go the extra mile for their mental health and wellbeing. Sometimes people are willing but not able and organisations need to recognise this.

??The most critical enabler of people's performance is their energy, and we only get to feel energized when we are healthy, in every aspect. Why then, is the wellbeing of your employees not a strategic priority?

??Organisations doing the best on this are those where leadership is the biggest advocate of wellbeing, role modelling day-in-day out, where it is owned at a leadership level.

Authenticity and inclusivity in leadership

Inclusivity and fostering a sense of belonging are important to mental health at work, especially for those from under-represented communities. In building a business case these are two vital strategic elements that should be included.? Advita Patel , communications and PR practitioner, and co-founder of A Leader Like Me , talked to us about how to build an inclusive culture, and leading with authenticity. Watch the replay here (free join up required).

Advita's definition of an inclusive work culture

?? The basic definition is where people can thrive in whatever they do and bring their best self to work. Where they can see they are adding value, getting the recognition that they need, and progressing within their role. Where they have the confidence to speak up if something is not right, and there's the environment allows them to do that.

Advita's tip for creating genuinely useful initiatives

?? The things that work really well are when people put real thought behind initiatives, so really think about the outcome that they're trying to achieve. So, if you're doing a leadership programme for women and marginalised people, then what is the outcome that you're trying to achieve? You can say we're going to narrow the gender pay gap, we're going to have more women at boardroom level, we're going to have more black women, more people of colour in senior management positions, and this is how it's going to work. Having been intentional with those initiatives is where I've seen most people feel empowered.

Amy Mckeown on wellbeing roles in organisations

We interviewed Amy McKeown about the role of in-house wellbeing leads, and how businesses can become more strategic in how they view health, mental health and wellbeing. If you missed the conversation, a full replay is available here (free join up required).

Top takeaways and talking points from Amy’s interview:

?? The business issue of the next 10-20 years is going to be health and mental health, not necessarily wellbeing.

?? Who is responsible for health and mental health and who pays for it? We need adult conversations around this.

?? Are we shifting accountability, by having a mental health or wellbeing role? It’s easier to create a junior HR role to show you are doing something, then roll that person out when things go wrong or right.

?? Why should a business invest? Organisations are already spending a lot of money on health and mental health already through absence, or health insurance, but it’s not strategic spending. Organisations need to move away from finding money to invest, to looking at what’s already being spent and how to better direct this in a strategic way.

Leadership in the digital age

What does it mean to be a leader in the digital age? How can leaders ensure employee wellbeing across remote and hybrid working as well as their own? We interviewed Ilona Brannen , scale-up consultant, business strategist and host of the podcast Still Loading , about life as a leader in an ever-increasingly digital world. You can watch the replay here (free join up required).

Ilona's two tips for managing digital communications

?? #1: When you're setting up meetings in a remote working environment, before you schedule the meeting decide if that meeting is convergent - to get an agreement on an idea - or divergent - to generate ideas. Understanding what type of meeting it is will mean you reduce meeting fatigue, and it will make you more strategic about who you're inviting and defining the reason why they need to be there.

?? #2: Refine and improve internal communications. Choose your methodology and stick to it. Set expectations with your team about where you're communicating, when and why, and make sure everyone has the same responsibility to check that communication method.?

Ilona on leadership and burnout

Managers are often burning out faster and harder in a remote working world. This is because you're carrying the emotional load of your team, but you're not getting the same feedback, for example, the positive physiological feedback of seeing someone smile and being in their presence. Leaders are experiencing emotional drainage because they're having to facilitate hard conversations, or emotionally support someone remotely.

?? I would recommend ensuring you step away from the laptop and definitely take your breaks. Also, walking reduces the stresses and strains on your nervous system, even five minutes makes a difference. Leaders have to protect themselves to avoid burnout.

Making a business case - resources we've shared

Thanks to all the organisations who provide these brilliant resources. We regularly share valuable insights, reports and news items with our community. This month we've shared and talked about:

• World Health Organization and International Labour Organization 's new guidelines on Mental Health at Work. Read more here .
• 德勤 article by Steve Hatfield , Jen Fisher and Paul. H. Silverglate on The C-suite's Role in Wellbeing. Read the article .
• Mind and Mental Health at Work's The Mental Health at Work Commitment. Sign up here .
• 德勤 's Mental Health and Employers: refreshing the case for investment. Catch up here .

A peer-to-peer support group for leaders

In our community we've created a dedicated group for leaders who want to share ideas, best practice, lessons learned, and practical tips on building the business case for mental health and wellbeing at work. Access to the group is free as part of the Minds@Work community. Sign up, then access the group here .

Join the conversation

We've created our free, online community for people like you who want to learn about creating more mentally healthy workplaces and network with other like-minded peers. As part of the community, you can easily access all of our events, replays, resources and groups. Join the Minds@Work team: Geoff McDonald , Georgie Mack , April Doty ?? ?? , Sarah Bingham ????? , Lauren McMenemy , Carys S. and the rest of our community here: https://minds-work-community.mn.co/

What are your thoughts?

Building a business case is a complex process. How is your organisation tackling this? Let us know your thoughts, ideas and experiences in the comments below ?