The costs of mental health in the United Kingdom are felt both by employees who suffer from mental health problems and companies. Last year, mental health cost the UK economy E34.9bn, according to the Centre for Mental Health. With a large part of that loss stemming from reduced employee productivity. The costs are higher than what a company would lose if employees took sick leave. Additionally, the loss was a result of employee turnover as a result of employee turnover.

The Covid-19 pandemic introduced a new dynamic that saw the workplace transform with employees working from home—employee isolation, fear of the unknown, slashed salaries.

The pandemic has no doubt affected people in numerous ways, while it might take some time to understand at what scale that may be, research has emerged in the U.S. to suggest that 1 in 3 people who have experienced severe COVID-19 symptoms have since developed a neurological or mental health condition. According to the Office for National Statistics, around 1 in 5 (21%) adults experienced some form of depression in early 2021; this is more than double that observed before the pandemic (10%).

On the bright side, more business owners and employers have begun to do something about the mental health crisis:

Raising awareness on mental health

Mental health—the elephant in the room. A subject so heavy that employees find it easier to talk about sex than broaching on the subject. A survey of 2000 British Workers revealed that employees were more comfortable discussing sex with fellow employees than their mental health. Of the respondents, only 13 percent felt comfortable discussing mental health in the workplace.

But what makes a problem affecting one in every six British workers hard to discuss? With mental health comes an additional chip on the shoulder—stigma. Stigma is often rooted in ignorance, the myths and misinformation that has for years pervaded our thinking.

“Although understanding of mental health issues is growing, misconceptions still remain—especially in the workplace. Once thought of as something that happened to an unfortunate few, one in four people are now affected by mental health issues, and employers need to be able to spot the signs,” Joy Reymond, Head of Vocational Rehabilitation Services, Unum.

It has been said that knowledge is power; an organization looking to put employee wellness at the centre of business success should nurture a supportive culture of understanding in the workplace.

Creating an employee-centred workplace doesn’t have to be an extravagant affair; embed mental health in induction and training, running internal communication campaigns, celebrating key dates on the mental health calendar, and hiring mental health activists.

Promoting a health-life balance



A workplace that is less than optimal with long working hours, huge workloads, poor pay, poor working conditions can be a breeding ground for employees’ workplace stress, depression and anxiety.

In 2019/2020, the total number of cases of work-related stress, depression or anxiety was 828,000, a prevalence rate of 2,440 per 100,000 workers, according to the Labour Force Survey (LFS).

A happy employee makes for increased productivity. Work-related stress, depression and anxiety last year saw companies lose 17.9 million working days. Additionally, the stress in the workplace was responsible for nearly half of all work absentia and sick leave days.

With that in mind, a business model focused primarily on the bottom line should reconfigure and include focussing on making the workplace a safe space for employees. An organization should encourage their staff to work sensible hours, take full lunch breaks, rest and recuperate after busy periods, take their full annual leave entitlement and encourage employees to take weekends off.

Integrating programs that support mental health

Often with mental health, employees feel unseen and unheard, leading to a high staff turnover. One of the ways to make your workplace more employee-centred is to integrate an Employee Assistance Program (EAP).

The program encourages employees to take charge of their mental health in an understanding environment. EAP provides employees with access to confidential counseling services that will help employees process and work through any insurance and healthcare-related issues and more.

Additionally, it is important to collaborate with your HR department before designing and integrating any mental health policies and programs. It would be even better to have a mental health professional walk you through the whole process.

Should employees want to seek other mental health resources, make sure your business model allows for that to happen. If you can, have a list of available resources offered by facilities handy—that way, employees feel managerial support when they are going through challenges.

Upskill line managers

A CV Library survey showed that 64 percent of employees feared being judged by their direct managers for discussing their mental health. Understandably, that fear is founded with up to 300,000 people with mental health problems losing their jobs each year—A rate higher than jobs losses caused by physical impairments.

“Opportunities are missed to prevent poor mental health and ensure that employees who may be struggling get the support they need,” Paul Farmer, Chief Executive of Mental Health Mind.

Paul Farmer suggests that companies' mental health plans should outline how their managers will support managers in identifying poor mental health among employees. Companies should provide some form of training on mental health and stress management. They should outline how managers deal with mental health and encourage and support positive managerial behaviour.

Mental health programs should form an integral part of any business module today. It may take a while before mental health conversations are spoken of as comfortably as the weather is, but companies should take the initiative to form a compassionate environment that puts employees first. If you notice that an employee is struggling to cope in the work environment, make the first move to genuinely help.

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