Employer Support Services

In addition to running training courses, I provide consultancy support to organisations to help to minimise the cost of stress, anxiety and depression among employees.

 

 

Developing and Implementing a Wellbeing Policy

"Less than one in 10 companies has an official policy on mental health and, of those, only 14 per cent believe it to be effective". (GPTW Institute/Employers' Forum on Disability, 2008). The absence of a Wellbeing Policy perpetuates the stigma associated with stress, anxiety and depression as being a sign of weakness or a character flaw. This leads to denial, even self-denial, as people are reluctant to admit that they "cannot cope" and struggle on at work. A recent ONS study found that "among people with neurotic disorders (anxiety, depression etc), fewer than a quarter (24 per cent) were currently receiving any form of treatment". Seeking treatment, of course, is an admission of the problem.

This situation is termed presenteeism which has massive cost implications for organisations See SCMH Report (PDF). The purpose of a Wellbeing Policy is not only to demonstrate that the employer takes mental wellbeing seriously, but also to encourage people to seek help at the earliest possible stage and certainly long before they go off sick, or leave – in other words, to remove the stigma. Unless this is in place, and effective, any attempt to monitor stress levels in the organisation will be pointless, through under-reporting from the associated stigma. Without effective stress auditing, targeting of preventative interventions is impossible and the organisation will continue to carry the huge cost of presenteeism.

I will help to develop the Policy and implement it so that it is credible and effective.
 

Stress Audits

Psychometric auditing of stress levels in an organisation is useful at two levels. Firstly, it will give an indication of how well stress levels are being controlled compared to other similar organisations and whether, over time, the situation is improving. Secondly, at an individual level, it will enable the employer to target support to employees effectively and efficiently.

I will conduct the initial audit and train in-house staff to conduct subsequent audits.
 

Management Training

In a recent survey, one line manager commented “I have experienced many staff claiming to be suffering from depression just to get time off work – it is a well known scam”. While this may be true in some cases, there are others qualified to weed these out – HR departments, occupational health professionals, or GPs. It would have been instructive if the survey had gone on to look at the productivity, absenteeism and turnover of this manager’s staff. See SCMH Report (PDF).

The same survey found that “Only 19 per cent knew that statistically one in four of the employees at their organisation experiences mental ill health. This may reflect a widespread belief that people with mental ill health are generally unfit to work” (GPTW Institute/Employers’ Forum on Disability, 2008). Actually, “the evidence shows that most people with mental health problems are in paid employment and are almost as likely to be working as anybody else” and “On average, employers should expect to find that, at any one time, nearly 1 in 6 of their workforce is affected by a mental health condition such as depression or anxiety.” (SCMH, 2007).

I will raise awareness in line managers of the impact and cost of stress to the organisation. I will also train line managers to spot the signs of stress, anxiety and depression in their staff to enable early intervention.
 

Workplace Environment

An employer has legal duties to protect workers' health, safety and wellbeing. Under the Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations, 1999, an employer should assess the risk of stress related ill health arising from work activities and, under the Health & Safety at Work Act, 1974, take measures to control that risk.

While there are stress factors in employees' lives which are completely out of the control of employers – they cannot be un-bereaved or un-divorced – there is a compelling business case for employers to take steps to address stressors which do arise in the workplace. See SCMH Report (PDF). This may involve looking at workloads, management structure or style, workplace layout, flexible working hours, etc.

I will advise on how to identify these stressors from employee feedback, and establish structures and procedures to ensure that this becomes an ongoing process.