Following last week’s mental health awareness week, Accentuate HR is encouraging business owners to accelerate their efforts to tackle mental health issues at work. The consequences of poor mental health are numerous and range from issues such as lowered productivity, decreased morale, stress and high attrition rates at work, all of which impair the ability of the employee and a business to function effectively.

The challenge of productivity, alongside and in part linked to mental health, has been pervasive for UK businesses. One study by the Mental Health Organisation suggested that addressing wellbeing at work could increase productivity by as much as 12%¹. This indicates that addressing mental health issues presents benefits to both the employer and employee simultaneously.

Employee engagement, another major problem linked in part to mental health, can also be alleviated by improving wellbeing in the workplace. One study found that poor mental health can have a negative impact on businesses with 80% of sufferers struggling to concentrate, and 62% finding themselves taking longer to do tasks².

Here at Accentuate HR, we know that targeted HR advice has the potential to help businesses combat the challenges of mental health.

Accentuate HR works with several specialists in the field of mental health. These experienced contacts have the capabilities to help employers navigate the complexities of mental health in the workplace thereby making companies more efficient and enjoyable places to work.

After gaining a greater understanding of what mental health is, we encourage employers to actively improve mental health in the workplace. This can involve things such as putting support procedures in place for staff experiencing ill health. Additionally, offering benefits such as flexible working hours, as well as other perks can help to alleviate work related stress. Furthermore, charities such as Mind have created a Workplace Wellbeing index which allows companies to find out how they could improve their approach to mental health, as well as gain public recognition for their commitment to workplace wellbeing³.