Recognised by the World Health Organisation on 10th October every year, World Mental Health Day’s theme this year is ‘Make mental health and wellbeing for all a global priority’.
The day provides an opportunity to raise awareness of the importance of maintaining good mental health and a chance to bring attention to the steps we can all take to help us do this, how vital it is to talk about things and the ways that we can get help if we’re struggling.
Did you know that mental illness accounted for 58% of sick days taken in 2019? According to research by Deloitte, poor mental health costs UK employers up to £56 billion a year. Recognising World Mental Health Day is a great way to show your teams that you want to support them and can help reduce the costs of sickness absence due to stress, anxiety, depression and poor mental wellbeing.
Why not mark the day by getting people together for a healthy wellbeing breakfast where you serve up some healthy and delicious snacks? Or a pot luck lunch where staff can bring in and share food and stories about themselves or their recipes; or even a team lunchtime walk to encourage people to take a proper break away from their workstations and ‘walk & talk’. Research tells us that walking alongside someone makes it easier to talk about more complex personal topics than sitting opposite someone with direct eye contact, which can seem more pressured. Or perhaps an informal drop-in ‘tea and chat’ sessions? Some of these work well too when held remotely. If they prove popular, you could make them a regular occurrence!
There are more ideas for fundraising events to mark the day on the Mental Health Foundation website.
Did you know that 1 in 10 companies now have a menopause policy in place? That’s great news for all employees, not just the women you employ. If your demographic is mainly male, the chance is that they have already encountered the effect of the peri or menopause at home. They might not have known how to recognise the signs, or what to say to their partners. The young adults you employ may feel their parent is ‘not the same’ but unaware of the reasons why and it is adding pressure at home. Employees may not have linked the symptoms with the menopause, putting it down instead to ‘getting older’. When you think that women account for over 49% of the working population, it makes sense that we should offer support, guidance and reassurance to our employees. A good employee assistance programme with access to GP advice 24/7 is a great way to do this – we all know how difficult it is these days to get an appointment with our GP, never mind one who specialises in women’s health!
Keeping the cost of unplanned absence down is a priority for any organisation; we often see better results when absence management is linked to mental health and stress awareness. Short workshops on mental health and diversity & inclusion can be delivered to line managers, or your chosen company Ambassadors, and are a great way to provide on-site help to your staff, at an affordable price. Often when budgets need to be carefully managed, we see training and development adversely impacted. Investing now in the right training for your staff could save you thousands in the next 12 months.
Speak to us if you would like to know more about mental health initiatives that fit your organisation, awareness and training workshops or employee support.
