World Mental Health Day 2024: Mental Health At Work

The theme of this year’s World Mental Health Day is Mental Health at Work – a major issue for all employers. In the UK alone, it’s estimated that around 15% of workers have an existing mental health condition. That is probably the tip of the iceberg: since most of the statistics are down to self-report, it’s difficult to know how many workers are not disclosing their mental health condition.

Statistics from the Mental Health Foundation suggest that In 2022, mental health was the 5th most common reason given for sickness absence, accounting for 7.9% of occurrences. It’s particularly prevalent amongst the younger working population, with employees aged 44 years and below identifying mental health as the most common work-limiting condition. In the past 10-years, the number of workers aged 16–34 years who reported that their mental health limits the type or amount of work they can do has more than quadrupled. (https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/explore-mental-health/statistics).

There is a real economic cost to this also. The UK already has a productivity problem. On top of this, the Mental Health Foundation estimated there were 875,000 workers suffering from work-related stress, depression or anxiety, resulting in 17.1 million lost working days in 2022-23. Add to this that poor mental wellbeing costs employers in the UK an estimated £42 – £45 billion annually through presenteeism, sickness absence and staff turnover, then it’s clear this is a serious issue for employers to get to grips with.

Research from Deloitte (2020) found that, on average, there is a positive return on investment of around £5 for every £1 invested in mental health interventions in the workplace. But what type of investment – and where that money is spent – matters. Multiple evidence supports the effectiveness of work redesign and organisational change on improving worker well-being (Fox et al., 2022; Lovejoy et al., 2021). But these are often placed into the “too hard” box. Instead, employers target ‘solutions’ at the individual worker, often reaching for the same options: resilience training, EAP, well-being apps, the promotion of healthy lifestyles – to name but some. Employers spend millions – often billions – on these ‘solutions’. To what end? Using survey data from over 46,000 workers, from 233 organisations, Fleming (2024) examined participants versus non participants in a range of common interventions targeting individual workers, finding that across multiple subjective well-being indicators, participants experiencing these interventions were no better off than those who did not. It seems these interventions just don’t cut it.

Creating a supportive work environment fosters mental health, providing workers with purpose and stability. It is on employers, and those of us who work with them and advise them, to focus on the big issues. If you are an organisation – irrespective of size – here are some key questions to ask yourself.

• Are your jobs and processes well-designed or do employees spend endless hours navigating unwieldy, overly complex processes?
• Do your employees have the right resources to succeed and excel in their roles?
• Do you create a supportive environment where your employees can be open about any mental health issues they may be experiencing?
• Do your managers and leaders have the right skills to support and nurture those they manage and lead and support employees experiencing mental health issues?
• Are your recruiting and progression policies free from bias and discrimination – welcoming applicants with mental health conditions?

By addressing some of these bigger questions, we can create healthier and more productive work environments.

Authored by Dr Dawn Nicholson ABP Vice Chair, Head of Accreditation.