PROFESSOR DYLAN JONES-EVANS

A few years ago, mental health was not seen as an important issue within many workplaces across the UK. Fortunately, this issue has changed and it is now seen as not only a key concern personally for a growing number of employees but as a major influencer on productivity within the UK economy. For example, recent studies have shown that mental health issues results in 91 million working days lost in the UK every year which is equivalent to nearly £100 billion. For example, a report published by the medical technology company Mynerva which suggested that around 7.5 million workers in the UK are suffering from some sort of mental health issue and, worst still, 44 per cent have not informed their employer as they feel it may damage their job prospects. Another study – the Stress Epidemic – showed that found that over two thirds of UK workers experienced high to moderate stress levels with 42 per cent of regularly losing sleep because of workplace stress. One key issue regarding men...

The issue of mental health within the workforce has become a key concern for many employers over the last 12 months. More relevantly, both the UK and Welsh Governments have recognised that this issue is one in which they can intervene by promoting better wellbeing within both public and private organisations. A report last year by Monitor Deloitte - the multinational strategy consulting practice of Deloitte Consulting - showed the extent of this problem within the UK and, more relevantly, the negative impact on the UK economy. It estimated that poor mental health costs UK employers between £33 billion and £42 billion each year which is made up largely of absence from work (£8 billion), presenteeism i.e. attending work whilst ill and therefore not performing at full ability (£17 billion-£26 billion) and employee turnover due to mental health (£8 billion). Whilst the public sector makes up roughly a fifth of the UK labour force, it is responsible for around a quarter of the tota...

Last year, one of the most popular articles from my weekly column for the Western Mail examined happiness in the workplace and the growing realisation by many organisations that a failure to look after your workforce could impact performance and profitability. And this important issue of wellbeing in the workplace looks set to continue with many organisational analysts suggesting that it will be one of the key trends affecting business in 2018. In fact, with one in six workers being affected by anxiety and depression, this is becoming an issue not for individual organisations but for the UK economy as whole. This is not surprising given that there is increasing evidence of high staff turnover in a growing number of industries that is being caused by high levels of stress and burnout amongst employees. In the past, most of the emphasis by organisations has been on the physical wellbeing of their employees through programmes such as gym memberships, subsidised bicycle programmes...