Taking care of your staff

As World Mental Health Day approaches (10 October 2020), research from charity Mind found that more than half of adults (60%) and over two thirds of young people (68%) said their mental health got worse during lockdown. Their research also confirms that a culture of fear and silence around mental health at work is costly to employers:

  • More than one in five (21 per cent) agreed that they had called in sick to avoid work when asked how workplace stress had affected them
  • 14 per cent agreed that they had resigned and 42 per cent had considered resigning when asked how workplace stress had affected them
  • 30 per cent of staff disagreed with the statement ‘I would feel able to talk openly with my line manager if I was feeling stressed’
  • 56 per cent of employers said they would like to do more to improve staff wellbeing but don’t feel they have the right training or guidance.

The charity’s website offers a number of useful resources to help improve mental health at work – they can be accessed here.