To mark the Stress Awareness Month, caba - the charity training and advising the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales - has highlighted the mental health condition of the UK workforce.
Despite 44 per cent of HR management believing that their staff are coping well mentally, 41 per cent of employees were found to suffer from stress and burnout.
During the pandemic, an 86 per cent increase in mental health support at work - with a 42 per cent increase in employees demanding support - was seen by the HR respondents.
The most usual way that HR improved mental health was found to be by training, as reported by 61 per cent respondents - leaving 38 per cent of staff still suffering with burnout.
It was found that only 15 per cent of their staff always take the practical health advice offered - leaving 34 per cent of HR managers feeling that their efforts to help workers with their mental wellbeing were not valued. Of the employees who did not seek the mental health support being offered, 35 per cent did not think that their symptoms were serious enough and 28 per cent stated that they felt too embarrassed to do so.
Kirsty Lilley - Mental Health Expert at caba - has suggested some powerful ways that organisations can provide an atmosphere that is advantageous to good mental health.
She cited:
“The quality of a team member’s relationship with their line manager can do a huge amount to mediate their risk of poor mental health. Line managers must feel confident in having open conversations. They need to receive training and be able to ask questions about mental health when discussing normal management and development processes.
Some of us might fear being stigmatised for seeking help, or having our credibility questioned. What’s required, before people can even accept their own difficulties, is psychological safety. After all, if you aren’t in a safe place, it’s likely you’ll deny what’s going on around you, both to yourself and to others.
A key part of this process is taking the time to understand why people feel unsafe. It’s easy to feel frustrated when people are reluctant to open-up, but their resistance is understandable. The first step is to understand where the resistance is coming from and put measures in place so that team members feel at ease.”
