Business in the Community new mental health at work report
Today, the charity Business in the Community launched a report called Mental Health at Work.
The report shares findings from a national survey undertaken with research partner YouGov that heard from nearly 20,000 people in work across the UK.
The findings show
- 77% of employees have experienced poor mental health - 33% in the last month alone
- 62% of employees have experienced poor mental health where work was a contributing factor
- Managers underequipped and unsupported to respond to mental health in work
- Bosses are disconnected from reality of employees’ experiences of mental health
Responding to the findings, Mind’s Head of Workplace Wellbeing Emma Mamo, said:
“It’s concerning but not surprising that so many employees say they have experienced poor mental health where their workplace has been a contributory factor. This latest survey provides further evidence of the scale of stress and poor mental health at work and highlights the need for employers to take this issue seriously. Employers need to do everything they can to create an environment conducive to good mental health and we know that those who do put in place wellbeing initiatives reap the rewards in terms of higher levels of staff productivity, morale and retention.
“At Mind, we advise employers on how they can tackle the work-related causes of stress and poor mental health, support members of staff experiencing a mental health problem, and put in place measures to promote good wellbeing for all staff. Wellbeing initiatives needn’t be large or expensive, often it’s just about regularly creating the space to talk about these issues and offering employees things like flexible working hours, Employee Assistance Programmes and subsidised exercise classes.”