MENTAL HEALTH AND BUSINESS
The business world is still reeling from the difficulties secondary to COVID-19 pandemic. This means that in order to manoeuvre this trajectory, employees and all key players need to be fully engaged and at the highest notch of productivity. A mentally healthy employee is required to fulfil this undertaking hence the discussion for the importance of positive mental health for businesses.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), an estimated 12 billion days are lost on a yearly basis to depression and anxiety. Absenteeism is a consequence that has a direct financial impact on the business, with an estimated cost of US$ 1 trillion in lost productivity.
Several risks factors can facilitate mental health problems in the business space. They include using under-skilled workers for tasks that need high-level expertise, heavy workloads and/or understaffed workplaces, iron-fist supervision, discrimination and exclusion in the workplace and poor work-life balance. The risk factors are not exhaustive but the few highlight a grim picture of the situation at hand.
Poor mental health in the workplace is a deterrent to realising the business targets hence businesses are implored to invest in mental health. There is a US$ 4 return on US$ 1 invested into mental health interventions in a business set-up. If businesses implement strategies to improve mental health, they will be building a business resilience that will beneficial in the long run. Business leadership should avail all the resources, as we are aware of the ripple effects of such an investment.
To nurture mental health in the business environment, risk factors need to be dealt with. The business strategy should entail optimising the mental health well-being of employees by addressing risk that lead to poor mental health, ensure prevention activities in the workplace and supporting employees who have mental health problems to strive.
Other strategies that can come handy is the hiring of wellness managers to coordinate wellness initiatives in the respective businesses. The wellness manager facilitates amongst others, employee assistance programs (EAPs) within the business entity. EAPs ensures the provision of health services and programs that addresses the employee’s individual needs; an undertaking that facilitates well-being across the companies.
Entities like World Economic Forum (WEF) have highlighted the need for governments and corporations to prioritise mental health. WEF in collaboration with Deloitte are developing policies on technology for mental health which can be adopted by business entities. Efforts of WEF need be replicated!
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