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.