Last week's news from the BBC highlights just how dire the situation has become here in the UK when it comes to mental health costs in the workplace.
I get the impression from the responses I have heard amongst my network that nobody is even surprised anymore by these shocking statistics. Today's news that "300,000 leave their jobs due to mental health issues every year" is the latest in a series of statistics that should be shaking our employers into action, everybody from government to CEOs is talking about it after all!
The sad part is, nobody actually seems to be doing very much at all! Largely what I see is box ticking for the sake of meeting a morale obligation. Mental health has been one of the biggest topics of 2017, especially in the workplace but what are organisations actually doing to support their staff? Putting up posters and getting people talking about mental health more openly is a starting point but it gets you as far as Old Kent Road, organisations need to be considering the long game and how they can stake a claim for the future of work. A future that works for everyone involved, benefiting employee and employer simultaneously. There are huge benefits to be had commercially too!
That is why I have set about this mission to change the way organisations approach mental health. The impact that clinical psychologists can have when positioned within the workplace to support and nurture talent optimisation is truly profound. Every ounce of our productivity at work comes from our mind and our state of mind dictates the effectiveness of our application. Mental illness should not be the conversational topic here, it should be around mental resilience. If we can boost resilience via CBT (amongst other tools available) we can protect our state of mind and thus we will be happier, more productive and our add more value to our employer's top line!
It is a win win for all involved.
Today is very much the 'knowledge economy' and thus the value in our work is no longer what we do with our hands, though it is for some skilled workers, for the vast majority, their contribution to their employer comes exclusively from the contents of their mind. Thus making the minds of employees the most valuable asset within any organisation. Yet isn't it ironic that nothing is done to assure that this asset maintains peak performance as near as damn it all the time?! We wouldn't expect a formula one car to drive endlessly around a circuit at high speeds and yet we do expect the same of our executives within the melting pot that is the corporate world. I believe the time has come to call to action employers to proactively support their key talent in ways that work. In doing so, mental health can not only be embraced, it will become a regular part of office strategy, adding value to the top line and not cost to the bottom.
It all starts with a bold step toward a more proactive corporate culture when it comes to mental health. The plaudits are there for the taking for those pioneering organisations prepared to be committed to where the future of work inevitably is headed!
For more check out http://www.harvey-sinclair.com