Читать книгу The Hidden Edge - Jodie Rogers - Страница 17

The cost to business is huge. The Lancet^3a estimates 12 billion days (equivalent to US$925 billion) worldwide in lost productivity are attributable to depression and anxiety every year. That's the equivalent of taking the entire UK workforce out of production for a year.

Table 2.2 UK statistics on the scale of mental health illness and work-related stress.

Statistic	Source	Impact on your team of 30
People with mental health problems make up 15.9% of the UK workforce	Oxford Economics4	Five out of 30	Experiencing NOW
One in four (23%) UK employees have experienced symptoms of mental health problems in the past month, related to or caused by work	BITC5	Eight out of 30
30% of the UK workforce is diagnosed with a mental health condition in their lifetime	Nine out of 30	At some point
Six in 10 (62%) UK employees have experienced symptoms of mental health problems, related to or caused by work, at some point in their career	18 out of 30

The costs are due to four main factors: absenteeism, presenteeism, leaveism, and labour turnover (Figure 2.1).

Figure 2.1 Factors affecting business performance.

A 2020 study by Deloitte in the UK⁶ estimates that the costs to private sector business are up to £35.2 billion per year. This is made up of:

 £21.1–£23.4 billion in presenteeism

 £6.9 billion in turnover costs

 £5 billion in absence

The same study shows that the average employer is losing £1652 per employee due to poor mental health, and that the average ROI for well-being initiatives is 5×. Despite this excellent investment opportunity, the average UK employer is spending just £26 per employee per year, compared to £210 in Sweden.

Presenteeism and leaveism are increasingly prevalent in the workplace as communication advances mean we are unable to ‘switch off’ from work. Some eye-watering statistics are listed below:

 73% of British workers feel they are expected to be available for work at all times.⁷

 9% of workers in the UK who have no experience of mental health problems agree that ‘distress has left them less productive than they would like’.⁸

 51% of organisations observed that employees work outside contracted hours to get work done.⁹

 36% observed employees would use holidays and other allocated time off to work.11

 In a global study, nearly one in three workers are ‘unable to mentally switch off from work’, and 20% of people said ‘being constantly connected to work made them feel mentally exhausted’.¹⁰

 When asked the question, ‘When I am struggling with my mental health and would benefit from time off’, 85% of UK respondents agreed they would still ‘always or mostly go to work’.¹¹

Gallup's ‘State of the Global Workplace 2016’ measures employee engagement and well-being. Worldwide, two thirds of the workforce are ‘not engaged’ in their jobs, and 18% are ‘actively disengaged’.¹² The study also measures and reports on the well-being of populations, using five key essential elements: purpose, social, community, financial, and physical. The report found that in the United States, 28% of adults are ‘struggling or suffering’ in all of these elements, while only 19% are thriving in at least four out of the five.

Why is this important in the workplace? Well, even engaged employees are more likely to miss work days, are slower to recover from illness, and are more likely to be looking for another job if their well-being is poor. Imagine having a workforce with purpose, with good work relationships, feeling part of a community. That's what consciously and positively investing in a well-being (and better still, mental fitness) programme can bring to your business. Engaged, thriving employees who are less likely to take time off, and are more productive at work, more resilient and happy to embrace change.

Enough of the costs of doing nothing. Let's look at the benefits of doing something.