This World Mental Health Day

Take the opportunity to strengthen the strategies you have in place in your organisation.

The mental health conversation is still one of the most difficult ones to have. At some point we’ve probably all said ‘I’m fine’ when we’re not. So try to look beyond the words. Smile. Let the person know they’re OK to open up. You can really make a difference.

A few thoughts below ….

 PROMOTING GOOD MENTAL HEALTH AT WORK

Every year, one in four of the UK population suffer from mental ill health and 11.7 million working days are lost due to stress and stress related illness. Those alarming figures illustrate stories of individual struggle, unhappiness and overwhelming personal challenge. They also paint a picture of the dilemmas faced by so many businesses; the need to drive profit whilst having a duty of care and legal responsibility for the wellbeing of their greatest asset - the workforce.

We are the founders of Mind Fitness, a unique training company that teaches people to build resilience, reduce stress and boost performance. Every year we and our teams work in diverse business organisations large and small. Our work gives us valuable insight into the challenges faced and opportunities delivered by organisations who actively promote good mental health in the workplace.

Where to start? How can employers who wish to increase support begin to address their challenges? We believe that the most important thing that can be done as a starting point in every workspace and board room is to begin the conversation. For far too long, mental health has been the elephant in the room. That is why business, along with the wider society, has tended to stigmatise those who suffer, or allow the stigma to continue unchallenged. With the data making grim reading, it is clearly the right time to begin to break the cycle and undertake positive change.

By establishing a business culture where mental health can be freely talked about, a working environment is soon created where people who may be struggling don’t have to pretend to have the flu or some other physical condition they believe will buy them a reasonable amount of understanding and support. With more open dialogue, a company can establish what questions need to be asked and then ask them on a regular basis.

Having asked the right questions the companies must, of course, listen to the answers. One approach that has worked well for a number of businesses we work with is to establish a mental health team that are an effective and trustworthy first port of call for anyone that is beginning to struggle. And the key here is beginning to struggle. So often the early warning signs have not been recognised or at worst have been swept under the office carpet. We see instances of well-intentioned managers offering a friendly gesture of support to a struggling colleague and assuming this to be an adequate substitute for proper remedial action.

By establishing a clear and practical process of reporting mental ill-health, where both the staff member with the problem and the Wellbeing Officers feel confident that concerns will be listened to and addressed at the appropriate level in the organisation, the business can proactively manage the overall wellbeing of the workforce.

The process has to be clear and it has to be embraced by the company as a whole, top down. A growing number of companies are implementing cognitive training such as Mind Fitness that gives their workforce a tool box of coping techniques. Such training is largely preventative as opposed to remedial, with easy access strategies to manage stress and build real deep-rooted resilience. This approach becomes part of the business culture.

The evidence shows that the benefits of such training are overwhelming, both for the workforce and for the business overall. The recently published Thriving at Work report commissioned by the UK government calculates that the financial cost of poor mental health to British business is ï¿¡42b per year, whilst the cost to the UK economy is a staggering ï¿¡99b. On a more optimistic note, the report states that the return on investment in supporting mental health in the workplace yields a tenfold benefit to the organisation through reduced absenteeism, increased retention and boosted performance. The available evidence clearly demonstrates a robust business justification of increasing support both from a commercial and ethical standpoint.

The Tool Box won’t make all the challenges disappear, but it will go a long way towards creating more manageable situations. With quality training that teaches life changing techniques, along with the understanding of how they work and importantly why, staff engagement and motivation steadily increase. The benefits to the individual in being better able to manage moods and emotions are profound, as they are to teams with improved communications and more effective working relationships.

Lastly, for those for whom the early support has not prevented a period of absence, the provision of supported recovery on their return reaps huge benefits. One short period of absence due to mental ill-health does not mean that a cycle of re-occurrence is inevitable. In fact, the likelihood of recurrence may well depend on the period of recovery. It is understanding that so many of us are conditioned to say ‘fine’ when asked how we are. If someone says ‘fine’ with a plaster cast on their leg, we are unlikely to wholly accept the response. If someone says ‘fine’ when they are recovering from a period of mental ill-health, with no physical indicators present, it is understandable that this superficial answer may be taken as fact. So we’re back to the conversation.

Full implementation of a strategy to improve the health and wellbeing of each and every employee will, in many organisations, mean top down changes, adapting structures, methodologies and working practice. Perhaps we need to see the workforce as a relay team, able to pick up the baton effortlessly almost before it is dropped. Companies achieve this by instilling a truly supportive team culture and collective approach.

It’s certainly not all doom and gloom. Things are changing. Taboos are reducing. Society is becoming more aware of the issues now and that means we’re better able to act. Companies of all shapes and sizes are thinking about the best ways to react and support. Many more now have programmes in place. It seems to be the right time for business to hit reset and take the opportunity to re-write the future; to reap the rewards of developing a more compassionate and supportive workplace. Progressive companies are already seeing great results from adopting strategies of support. The great privilege for us at Mind Fitness is to be part of the process that is resulting in a steady and positive shift in attitudes, and to witness at first hand the changes that the companies we work with enjoy.

Beth Wood and Andy Barker info@mindfitness.training