Preventing mental health decline at work

In 2019/20 there were an estimated 828,000 employees affected by work-related stress, depression or anxiety. In 2019/20 work-related stress, depression or anxiety accounted for 51% of all work-related ill health and 55% of all days lost due to work-related ill-health and is now the leading cause of ill health absence from work. Furthermore, research conducted by mental health charity, Mind, concluded that a ‘culture of silence’ around mental health is costly to employers: More than one in five (21%) respondents said that they had called in sick to avoid work when asked how workplace stress had affected them. 14% agreed that they had resigned and 42% had considered resigning when asked how workplace stress had affected them. Research also confirmed that 56% of employers said they would like to do more to improve employee wellbeing, but don't feel they have the right training or guidance.  

Andrea Steer, Senior Risk Consultant, Zurich Resilience Solutions said: “While work-related stress, depression and anxiety were already the leading causes for absence from work; the COVID-19 pandemic has also brought about challenges which have shifted the landscape of mental health risks. The epidemic has put a strain on many people's lives in different ways, for example, the virus created concerns about physical health due to the virus itself as well as increasing issues including lack of sleep quality, increased anxiety caused through loss of income or furlough which has had a significant impact on the population in general.” 

Current trends surrounding mental health at work

Andrea said: “People didn’t have much time to adapt to the ‘new normal at the outset of the pandemic’ and the required shift was immediate and not at all gradual. Many people were thrust into working from home for example, and this has had a massive impact on mental health, particularly in instances whereby an employee had additional responsibilities such as caring for dependents.  The lines between the work/life balance have been blurred and not everyone’s home environment is suitable for work therefore home life is affecting work and vice versa. As a consequence, many people have been left feeling stressed, exhausted, lonely and isolated.” 

Expectations of where and how we work, due to the pandemic, has led to the development of a hybrid workplace that has expanded beyond the traditional office space and many organisations are looking at the introduction of hybrid working models.  But remote working,  can cause increased levels of loneliness and mental distress, according to research conducted by the National Centre for Social Research.

Andrea comments further: “Zurich insights have revealed that the factors responsible for causing work-related stress, employee burnout, depression or anxiety, include workload pressures such as, too much responsibility, short deadlines and a shortfall of leadership and communication in the virtual world. Elsewhere we’ve observed that there is an absence in the level of reporting around presenteeism, a term used to describe employees still working whilst ill, linked to stress, anxiety and depression is  The CIPD’s findings on health and wellbeing found that, pre-pandemic, nearly nine in ten of people professionals had observed presenteeism in their organisation over the past 12 months. However, alarmingly, only a third of respondents had taken steps to tackle this unhealthy working practice, meaning more employers need to address the issue.” 

What lies ahead in work-related stress 

Zurich Resilience Solutions consultancy services are providing advice to clients about the impact of the pandemic on mental health and wellbeing and how it continues to affect employees. 

• Here is a summary of the key emerging trends affecting mental health in the future workplace:

 

• Supporting employee mental health 

  Statistics from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), reveal that 300,000 people with a long-term mental health problem lose their jobs each year. The figure quantifies how investing in supporting mental health at work is good for people, the organisation and productivity. The movement to a hybrid workforce has created challenges for employers, yet it's important for organisations to take care of employees and to support those who may be vulnerable or are already reporting work-related stress.

  Andrea said: “Employers have an opportunity to revolutionize their workplace, but this requires leaders to proactively cultivate a culture which removes the stigma around mental illness and encourages conversations around what employers can do to help. The focus should be around practical action and solutions to respond to the psychosocial issues which can lead to increasing levels of work-place stress. Organisations should evolve, in order to find ways of working that curate and retain healthy and engaged employees. Mental health should no longer be seen as a taboo subject.”  

  If you need support on employee mental health and employee wellbeing Zurich Resilience Solutions are here to assist. Our expert risk consultants can help organisations analyse their current strategy for workplace mental health and wellbeing and have developed a new digital assessment tool as part of the Zurich Risk Advisor app.  Zurich Risk Advisor available for IoS and Android devices and is free of charge to download, and can help employers assess the risks around workplace stress and mental health decline at work. The tool could be fundamental in understanding how to keep people mentally healthy, both in terms of prevention and what measures to put in place to manage workplace stress and mental health decline.

   

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