Three in four workers are struggling with their mental health at work, according to our research. Plus two in three say their employers aren’t doing enough to support. What can leaders do to really address this?

This World Mental Health Day, we released our Towards Utopia Report - Mental Health at Work 2022: The Cost of Coping. We followed with a Breakfast Briefing summarising the main issues and recommendations from the report. You can watch this at the bottom of this page. The research on over 3000 workers, showed some startling findings on the relationship between employees’ well-being and their work lives. 

The findings show a lack of comprehensive, empirically-informed mental health strategies and the necessary business investment to meaningfully support workers. If, like many of our clients, you’re in a position where you’re asked by your business to provide the evidence and the real-life impacts to support your mental health strategies, we hope the data in this report and Breakfast Briefing will help you.  

What does the evidence tell us?

At a high-level, our study shows that the symptoms of mental health amongst our workforces are much more prevalent than we think, with one in three people showing signs of psychological distress. While it’s no surprise that Covid-19 was cited by 51% of respondents to be a significant factor negatively impacting their mental health, an important finding is that almost as many people (49%) are just as concerned about the cost of living. Lastly, the research shows that marginalised communities are, as a whole, much more adversely affected by these issues. We strongly encourage downloading the full report which details who’s impacted, the factors to look out for and a free, strategic action plan for businesses.

A way forward for businesses

Given this context, doing nothing is not an option. Not only are our people hurting, but so is our bottom line. Whilst tactical workshops and one-off events are a helpful start, they can be more problematic if undertaken within a toxic culture that doesn't address the root causes of the mental strain.

Our study shows that only 48% of the workers we sampled are satisfied with the way their workplace currently supports them. That’s why we recommend that businesses build long-term ‘cultural strategies’ over short-term ‘coping strategies’.

Before attempting to create strategies that encourage psychological safety and belonging within teams, it’s important to first identify the triggers and causes. Here’s a five-step approach, detailed more fully within the main report, that we recommend:

Step 1: Conduct a business health check:

It’s essential for businesses to start turning inwards and listening. Creating conditions where employees can be honest about their realities encourages psychological safety and transparency. This may involve holding listening sessions facilitated by an expert team well-versed in dealing with potentially triggering discussion topics.

Step 2: Assemble a change-making team:

Involve your leadership team, HR and key influencers in decision-making that creates proper mental health strategies based on insights and data collected through the health check.

Step 3: Set goals and build a strategy.

To establish real commitment that really addresses the challenges, it’s important to run year-round strategies rather than just one-off tactics. Yes, initiatives like yoga, self-care tips, and workshops help, but the goal is to build a more inclusive workplace in the long term.

Step 4: Put protective measures in place.

To create an inclusive and psychologically safe workplace, managers and senior leaders need to be fully equipped to support someone who may need it. This will likely require the involvement of third-party specialists and interventions to train managers to be better equipped with the range of challenges they may face. Often, a lack of mental health training within teams can create ‘fear of getting it wrong’, which leads to nothing being done and the situation being aggravated for both workers and the business.

Step 5: Look for easy wins along the way to the big picture.

Finally, building better mental health strategies won’t happen in one day. So it’s important to celebrate the smaller successes along the way to keep momentum for long term change.

Mental Health at Work Report: The Cost of Coping

Get a strategic action plan for your business and the data to support your business cases.

Watch the 25-minute Breakfast Briefing

Missed our Towards Utopia Breakfast Briefing exploring the themes and recommendations of the report? Watch the summary now.

Our Breakfast Briefings are evidence-based, invite-only, resources for anyone working in or interested in Inclusion and Diversity. If you’d like to be invited to the next meeting, sign up here.