Understanding mental health

Mental health support for all

Mental health is not merely the absence of a mental health condition. Mental health exists on a continuum, or range: from positive, healthy functioning at one end through to severe symptoms of mental health conditions at the other.

A person’s mental health moves back and forth along this range during their lifetime, in response to different stressors and circumstances.

Some symptoms of people who may be at the red end of the continuum include:

• Disturbed sleep
• Reduced productivity
• Social withdrawal
• Feeling overwhelmed
• Irritability
• Alcohol and drug uses.

One in five employees in Australia are likely to be affected by a mental health condition. In any year, around three million people in Australia experience conditions of anxiety or depression.

Key facts

• It is estimated that 45 per cent of people in Australia will experience a mental health condition in their lifetime. These conditions tend to affect individuals during their prime working years.
• Poor mental health costs Australian businesses $10.9 billion every year in absenteeism, reduced productivity in the workplace, and compensation claims.
• Mental health conditions result in around 12 million days of reduced productivity for Australian businesses annually.

“When work is a great environment, you want to be there and you have a productive time being there. When it’s a negative environment you dread going there and it impacts on your mental health”

Wellness and mental wellbeing for businesses

Mental wellbeing at work greatly contributes to wellness and the working environment of a business. Only by consider and take care of its wellness and environment, a business can perform to its potential, and thrive. There is an increasing amount of evidence that workplaces can plan an important and active role in maintaining the mental health and wellbeing of their workers.

• Every business has a legal and moral responsibility to provide a safe and fair workplace.
• Creating a mentally healthy workplace has many benefits for both employers and employees. A well-designed workplace should support individual mental health, which can then lead to reduced absenteeism, increased employee engagement, and group productivity.
• Furthermore, proactive approach to mental health builds reputation for businesses, both to employees and customers. A healthy workplace:
  • Improves morale and engagement,
  • Improves interpersonal relationships among employees.
  • Reduce staff turnover, and
  • This in turns contribute to the improvements in business offerings to their customers

Benefits of addressing mental health issues for businesses

So what is the purpose of having a mental and wellbeing plan for your business anyway?

Supporting wellness mean that:

• Employees and the businesses are given the opportunity to perform at their best. This ensures that employees are proper supported and catered to perform to their best of their capabilities to meet the goals of the business
• The business is maximising the potential of its workforce. By ensuring diverse mental and wellness needs are addressed, employees can play to their strengths, and minimise risks involved with their performance.
• Creating a harmonious environment for both the workforce and the business to grow. The business can only be as good as its people, and growing the business will in turn enrich its people. Building this continuous collaborative environment will be the key of success for businesses.

Research from the Productivity Commission (2020, Inquiry into Mental health, Volume 2) has shown that for every dollar you spend creating a mentally healthy workplace, on average, result on a positive return (ROI) of between $2.3 to $4.

This returns is measured as savings in absenteeism, presenteeism, and reduction in compensation claims or drop in productivity.

Impact of not addressing mental health

The impact of mental health conditions can be measured as the total cost of three main components:

• Absenteeism
• Presenteeism
• Compensation claims

Absenteeism refers to a habitual pattern of absence from duty at work or from work as scheduled, normally without notices or reasons. Absenteeism does not include vacation, personal leave or other similar reasons. Annually, absenteeism is estimated to cost the Australian economy up to $44bn. Some of the most common cause for absenteeism can be:

• Work related stress
• Employee disengagement
• Personal causes (domestic violence, substance abuse problems)
• Culture pressures
• Bullying and harassment

Presenteeism refers to when a worker is working while being physically or mentally unwell. Most commonly, this is seen through cases where employees have a tendency to ‘solider on’, and struggle in work. This exposes businesses to both the risk of infectious disease (if it was due to physical illness), as well as risk of low productivity, and risk of affecting workplace morale and increasing workplace stressors. Some common causes for presenteeism include:

• High workload
• Work related stress
• Workplace pressures (self-pressure, or pressures from management and peers)
• Lack of support and open communication

Identify Returns on Investment (ROI) for your business

In general, investing in mental health initiatives is beneficial for business. While the amount may vary, on average, the return on investment (ROI) on mental health incentives is around $2.3 to $4.

This returns is measured as savings through reduction of  absenteeism, presenteeism, compensation claims or drop in productivity by 33% after implementing mental health initiatives.

Headsup Australia, drawing analysis done by PwC, has created a tool to help businesses understand the potential benefits of investing in mental health incentives for businesses of different industry and sizes.

The tool is available here.