Claire Farrow
Global Head of Content, Make a Difference Media & Events
The UK is currently experiencing record rates of burnout. So, this year’s World Mental Health Day theme, prioritising mental health in the workplace, is especially timely.
Rather than companies making tokenistic declarations on this one day a year, at Make A Difference, we want to ensure mental health stays top of the agenda on 10th October and beyond.
Mental health awareness rise
There has been a revolution over the past 10 years, spurred on by high-profile professionals talking openly about their poor mental health. Many organisations have put support in place, ranging from the creation of peer-to-peer networks to investment in private medical insurance — providing everything from coaching and neurodiversity diagnosis to psychotherapy.
There are 3.7 million people in
employment with a range of
work-limiting health conditions.
More needs to be done
Despite this progress, post-COVID-19, there are 3.7 million people in employment with a range of work-limiting health conditions, from dealing with the challenges of menopause to chronic back aches. Yet, mental ill-health is the major cause. Worryingly, this has grown fastest among young workers, doubling in the past decade.
With demand for mental health support on the rise and our beloved NHS stretched, employers must continue to step up.
Three tips for leadership buy-in
To keep mental health on top of the workplace agenda, here are three tips to get and maintain boardroom buy-in.
- Speak the language of the Board. The more you can link investment in colleagues’ mental health to business-critical objectives, the better.
- Outline how your interventions are sustainable and important in the long term. This way, they can’t be seen as peripheral and easily chopped for quick budget cuts.
- Tell a story with data. While data is definitely what the Board wants, don’t unleash a barrage of numbers on them with little explanation.
For more practical tips that will help you keep mental health top of the agenda at work, join us on 17th October, just after World Mental Health Day, at our sister event, the MAD World Festival of Workplace Culture, Employee Health and Wellbeing. Find more details and register using code GUARDIAN50 for a 50% discount: madworldsummit.com/registration/
