Workplace Wellbeing

Mental Health Awareness
10 November 2015

Mental health problems at work are common.

Right now 1 in 6 of us is dealing with a mental health problem such as anxiety, depression or stress. Many people feel scared and confused about confronting the issue at work.

We have been told stories about people struggling to cope at work, about cultures with a lack of trust or open communication, about people being told to use holiday days and not sick days because ‘it will look bad’. We also hear about how it is not possible to separate what goes on at home and work.

We want to know if we can help.

We are in the early stages of designing a pathway that connects organisations to our service and we would like your advice. Please encourage managers, leaders, business owners, people working in human resources, occupational health and corporate social responsibility to let us know their thoughts.

To chat to us or complete a survey please contact catherine@designsinmind.co.uk

Research conducted by MIND confirms that there is a culture of fear and silence around mental health and this is costly to employers

1 in 5 people take a day off work due to stress

1 in 10 people have resigned a job due to stress, 1 in 4 have thought about it.

19% of staff feel they can’t speak to managers about stress at work.

25% of people we surveyed considered resigning due to stress.

56% of employers said they would like to do more to improve staff wellbeing but don’t feel they have the right training or guidance

We all know that having a healthy workforce can reduce sickness absence, lower staff turnover and boost productivity. This is important not just for businesses and staff, but for the economy as a whole. It is a commonly used phrase but staff are any organisation’s greatest asset, and raising their productivity is an obvious way of improving organisational performance.

Here are a few resources supporting employers and employees to make the workplace mentally healthy.

Mental Health First Aid Training- Find A Course

Campaign to end mental health discrimination in your workplace- Time To Change

The Workplace Wellbeing Charter is an opportunity for employers to demonstrate their commitment to the health and well-being of their workforce- Workplace Wellbeing Charter

Workplace Wellbeing Tool to help employers to work out the costs of poor employee health to their organisation and create a business case for taking action- Workplace Wellbeing Tool