FMJ Facilities Management magazine providing industry-specific intelligence to FM and property professionals
According to the HSE, an estimated 875,000 cases of work-related stress, depression, or anxiety were reported in 2022/23, with approximately half of the 1.8 million workers attributing their conditions to these issues. With Deloitte research revealing that the cost to employers of poor mental health is £51 billion per year, what can FMs do to help improve mental health in the workplace?
THE WORKPLACE MENTAL HEALTH CAMPAIGNER’S VIEW
SAM DOWNIE,
MANAGING DIRECTOR, MATES IN MIND
Some workplace metrics are easy to measure – profit and loss or rates of sickness and absence – but measuring levels of burnout and poor mental health in the male-dominated FM and built environments may be more complex.
Identifying these issues in the workplace isn’t always easy: you won’t necessarily see the signs. A colleague might struggle to cope with everyday things or may not reply to messages. Their work may not be at the usual standard, there may be unexplained lateness or absences or even an inability to complete their work. Human beings can be very good at masking the signs, particularly if we don’t feel psychologically safe enough at work to reach out.
Everyone experiences and exhibits stress differently, and there are gender differences. Research shows that because of chronic stress, women may be more likely to experience exhaustion first, as well as symptoms of depression, problems with concentration and sleep, and feelings of agitation and restlessness. Conversely, men exhibit ‘cynicism’ first: a negative attitude towards others, irritability, and withdrawing into themselves. Men may be more likely to develop problems with substance abuse and experience effects on cognitive processes, such as memory.
Employers have a duty of care to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of their employees, including mental health/stress, and to protect employees with mental ill-health against discrimination and harassment.
Some organisations do great work in this area – transforming their workplaces, raising awareness, addressing the stigma and empowering their supply chains. However, too much variation and inconsistency remain, with support focused on when someone reaches crisis rather than identifying and mitigating the contributing factors.
Consider questions such as: Are your people managers creating stress or do they help people thrive? Do they simply manage – or do they lead, inspire and coach? How well are your managers equipped to identify and address signs of stress in their teams?
Leaders must review policies around flexible working, working time directives, and workplace stress, and provide employees with the opportunity to feed into the design, development, and delivery of workplace wellbeing strategies.
Budget holders must recognise the negative links between burnout, productivity, and profits. Deloitte’s analysis shows that employers that proactively invest in mental health support for their workforce can make significant gains, with an average £5 return for every £1 spent on wellbeing support.
Mates in Mind advocates for improving mental health in, and through, work. By creating a proactive prevention strategy, workplace attitudes and cultures can be changed, and organisations can develop open and healthy workplace environments in which their workforce can thrive, improving productivity and reducing presenteeism.
We educate, train and support employers and their employees across the whole workforce to ensure there is a continuous and comprehensive solution in place so that no-one reaches crisis point – and mental health awareness becomes everyone’s issue.
