You’d be mad not to

You’d be mad not to

The physical health of our staff has received so much attention over the years that employers are now in a position to make a fairly legitimate complaint when their manflu ridden fellas, and ladies struggling with something more piquant actually turn up at all.

Absenteeism as an issue now seems to sit comfortably alongside presenteeism, the concept of turning up to work, sick, and risking passing on infectious nasties to otherwise productive employees and clients Seems we’ve come a long way. But have we?

Although the tortoise is gaining some ground, the open acceptance, recognition and treatment of mental health issues, is still a long way behind the more accepted and less stigmatised hare, but we all know how that that particular fable ends.

In the UK, the mental health report : We’re ready to talk makes it starkly apparent that the hare can sleep for sometime before this issue gets the turbo boost it rightly deserves

businesses are not putting in place plans to ensure the mental wellbeing of their employees

And for some sobering economics, in any given year, 1 in 4 UK adults will experience a mental health condition. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimates the cost of mental health to the UK economy at £70bn per year, that’s 4.5% of GDP.

Mental ill health at work is thought to cost UK employers £26bn each year – on average £1,035 per employee.

In Australia, the maths looks like this: invest a dollar in mental health in the workplace, and you’ll get a return of $2.30. Productivity gains, rising levels of employee satisfaction, increased profitability, demonstrating a leadership role.. Need we go on?

The sooner we get our heads out of the sand on this one the better. Not only would it make good business, you’d be mad not to.

For a quick outtake, here’s a ‘heads-up’ on the issue: Beyond Blue and The Mentally Healthy Workplace Alliance have launched the headsup campaign. From their simple and effective website business leaders can find out why they are losing money if they’re not investing in employee’s mental health and sign up to learn how to make their workplace more mentally healthy and profitable.

No harm in registering, no harm at all. You’ll get hand-held all the way. Important information, tools and useful resources too.

headsup.org.au

photo credit: Pete Zarria via photopin cc

photo credit: MattusB via photopin cc