BMR Health and Wellbeing – What is workplace wellbeing and why is it important?
What is workplace wellbeing and why is it important?
Written by Lucy Brookes – BMR Health and Wellbeing
One in four people in the UK will have a mental health problem at some point. While mental health problems are common, most are mild, tend to be short-term, and are usually successfully treated with medication from their GP.
Mental health is about how we think, feel, and behave. Anxiety and depression are the most common mental health problems. They are often a reaction to a challenging life event, such as grief, but can also be caused by work-related factors.
Everyone has their point where their stress container is too FULL, which can lead to languishing and, if not spotted, mental illness. Some employees can have pre-existing conditions aggravated by work; some can develop illnesses due to work-related factors.
What impact does that have on the workplace?
- Sick days
- Poor interpersonal relationships
- Productivity down
- Mistakes made
- Loss of life or injury
- Poor customer service
- High attrition
- Recruitment costs
- Labour costs
- Profitability
- The list goes on……………
- Finally, it’s the law to ensure that your workplace is a safe environment for employees both physically and mentally
With the long list of impacts, we need to do something before it starts impacting the bank balance!
DO NOT
- Do nothing about it because you didn’t have the skill sets to fix it
- Accept the decline in performance and productivity and do nothing
- Allow deliveries to customers to fail or be of a sub-standard quality
- Replace safety controls with a team of Mental Health first aiders
DO
- If you recognised that you didn’t have the skill set/s internally to diagnose the issue, you would bring in a specialist
- Work with Health and Safety to apply safety controls to prevent injury and carry out regular risk assessments
- Speak to the employees and find out the work factors that impact them
- Create a risk reduction plan
- Develop mental health awareness among employees by making information, tools, and support accessible
- Encourage open conversations about mental health and the support available when employees are struggling, during the recruitment process and at regular intervals throughout employment, offer appropriate workplace adjustments to employees who require them
- Provide employees with good working conditions and ensure they have a healthy work-life balance and opportunities for development
- Promote effective people management to ensure all employees have a regular conversation about their health and wellbeing with their line manager, supervisor or organisational leader.
- Train and support line managers and supervisors in effective management practices
- PLAN, ACT, DO…………
Now you think that’s another extensive list of jobs I need to do!
Don’t worry; we have the tools to help.
To find out more – Contact us – Contact Us – Official Beyond Mental Resilience| BMR (bmrhealthandwellbeing.co.uk)
Complete a FREE workplace Mental Health audit – Mental Health Audit
Read more blogs and podcasts – Latest News on ISO 45003 | BMR (bmrhealthandwellbeing.co.uk)