A report by Business in the Community (BITC) has shone a light on the scale of mental health problems within UK workplaces.
A report by Business in the Community (BITC) has shone a light on the scale of mental health problems within UK workplaces.
77% of employees who took part in the 20,000-strong survey said that they had experienced symptoms of poor mental health. 62% of employees said that their poor mental health was because of, or was contributed to, by work.
It seems that there is a lack of reporting, however. More than one-third of employees said that they didn’t approach anyone for support the last time they experienced poor mental health. Men are less likely than women to talk to their line manager about mental health, and male managers feel less confident than their female counterparts about responding to a staff member who has depression. Younger workers (those aged 18-29) are more likely to experience symptoms of poor mental health, but lack confidence in talking to their manager about it; there is scepticism around employers’ commitment to health and wellbeing.
BITC is calling on employers to:
Talk, so that the culture of silence around mental health is broken.
Train employees in understanding mental health, and in mental health first aid. (According to the report, just 22% of line managers have had some sort of mental health training at work.)
Close the gap by talking with employees about their experiences and identifying where your commitments as an organisation are not aligning with those experiences.
You can read the report by clicking here.
