The Business in the Community (“BITC”) and Mercer Marsh Benefits report, Time to take ownership, suggests many organisations do not acknowledge or deal with the impact work has on employee’s mental health.
Whilst mental health awareness has risen significantly in recent year’s the report indicates that not enough employers have made changes to improve their employee’s mental health and organisations are still failing to acknowledge and mitigate for the impact that work has on their employees’ mental health. For example, the report alleges that in the past year 39% of workers in the UK experienced symptoms of poor mental health as a direct result of their job. Workers indicated that certain factors contributed to this; 36% identified working overtime and rarely taking annual leave because of their workload while 35% said they felt unsupported in their role.
The report indicates a profound cultural shift is paramount so that work itself does not cause poor mental health. The report suggests that there is a contrast between the support needed by workers and the support managers feel able to provide, for example, seven in ten managers reported that they had encountered barriers when trying to provide mental health support. Additionally, there is a clear disconnect between board members’ and employees’ opinions of mental health in the workplace, with 51% of board members believing their firm provided effective support in contrast to 38% of those who do not have line management responsibilities.
The report identified the following issues that caused mental health problems at work:
- Pressure – too many priorities or targets;
- Workload – having to work overtime and rarely being able to take leave;
- Employee’s not feeling supported in their role;
- Negative work relationships;
- Employee’s feeling, they could not trust their manager;
- Organisational changes being handled poorly;
- Feeling underpaid;
- Feeling stuck in a role with no progression;
- Bullying or harassment from managers;
- Feeling lonely or isolated at work;
- Employee’s feeling that they had no control over their work;
- Employee’s feeling their role was never clear and/or it changed regularly;
- Uncertain future;
- Unpredictable hours of work, shifts or income;
- Bullying or harassment from colleagues;
- The organisations performance;
- Sector-related pressure;
- Bullying or harassment from customers/clients; and
- Inflexibility impacting on caring responsibilities.
The report suggests the following action should be taken by organisations to better support mental health:
- Creating good work that enhances mental health for everyone i.e. security, fair play and professional development;
- Acknowledge and support employees experiencing poor mental health, whatever the cause; and
- Publicly reporting staff wellbeing performance.
Employer’s should read the Health and Safety Executive’s Management Standards for stress in the workplace and should conduct written stress risk assessments.
If you would like advice, guidance, assistance or training please do not hesitate to contact us on 01989 564 209.
