Poor Mental Health costing UK employers ￡51bn a year, report reveals
Colin Thompson
Managing Partner Cavendish/Author/International Speaker/Mentor/Partner
Poor Mental and Burnout found to be biggest contributors, with the impact of family members’ ill-health also affecting productivity
Poor mental health is costing UK employers ￡51bn a year, research from Deloitte has found. While this was down on last year’s figure of ￡56bn, it was up on pre-pandemic levels of ￡45bn in 2019.
Presenteesim was found to be the largest contributor, costing businesses ￡24bn a year, alongside burnout and the impact of family members’ mental health hitting performance.
The report –?Mental health and employers ?– looked into how the mental health of children and young people was affecting working parents, and found that parents’ concern about their children was costing UK employers ￡8bn annually. This was attributed to parents and carers being forced to take time off work for caring responsibilities, the impact of such stresses on their performance and them leaving their roles entirely.
The survey of 3,156 working adults across the UK found that 46 per cent of working parents were concerned about their children’s mental health, with half of those saying it impacts their performance at work.
Of those who were concerned about their children’s mental health, a third (32 per cent) have looked to reduce their working hours and 19 per cent have turned to their employer for additional support, such as an employee support line, childcare or flexible working arrangements.
Balancing work alongside caring for a child with mental health difficulties led to 10 per cent of parents taking up to five days off per year to support their children, while one in 100 said they had left their jobs because of their child’s mental health.
Catherine Roche, CEO of children’s mental health charity Place2Be, said: “Children don’t come with a manual: in today’s fast-moving landscape we need to support parents and carers to build their confidence and understanding of emotions and behaviours, so they can foster resilience, healthy coping mechanisms, good mental health and wellbeing.
“Creating mentally healthy workplaces has long-reaching benefits for employers, employees and society as a whole.”
The research also found an increase in some elements of burnout. Some 63 per cent of respondents said they were exhibiting at least one sign of burnout, such as feelings of exhaustion, mental distance from their job or a decline in performance at work – an increase from 51 per cent in the previous survey.
Meanwhile, it found for every ￡1 employers spent on supporting workers’ mental health, they got nearly ￡4.70 back on their investment in terms of improved productivity.
Elizabeth Hampson, Deloitte partner and author of the latest mental health research, said: “Employers are increasingly putting mental health and wellbeing at the heart of their business and providing effective mental health support for their people. The benefits of providing targeted support for employees are clear and compelling.
“Employers need concrete evidence to make informed decisions about how to invest in workplace mental health programmes and maximise benefits, including financial returns. We hope to inspire employers to take stock of the importance of their people’s wellbeing and mental health and put in place effective interventions to support their people, including working parents.”
Debra Clark, head of wellbeing at Towergate Health & Protection, noted that while it was positive to see that the cost to businesses of poor mental health had fallen, “it is still too high so should remain a focus”.?
She told?People Management: “As the stigma reduces there is more opportunity to help. Employers are well positioned to assist their employees in looking after their mental health to try and reduce the risk of mental ill-health. This must start with the culture of the business and senior leaders having it in the board agenda, measuring any interventions they put in place.”
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The high role of presenteeism in the figures suggested “mental health is not part of the culture in many businesses as people are forcing themselves to work when they are not 100 per cent and therefore unable to be fully productive”, said Clark, adding: “Awareness, education and support at very early stages of poor mental health, or even when there isn’t an issue, is essential. Catching mental health issues early means mental ill-health is more likely to be prevented or shorter lived.”
David Rice, HR expert at People Managing People, told?People Management?that employers can address and mitigate presenteeism by enforcing mandatory time off. “Obviously you want to give people the freedom to use their annual leave when they want to but you can support a culture of wellbeing by mandating that employees use a specific percentage of their holiday time,” he said.?
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Rice added that managers and HR professionals should receive communication skills training to better assist employees' mental health and prevent presenteeism: “Managers who are empathetic and compassionate in their communication are more effective at helping employees understand where to draw the line and in creating a connection where the employee doesn’t feel a need to be defensive or guarded.”
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