Building Psychologically Safe Cultures of Health
Random acts of Wellness are no longer acceptable in organisational cultures post-pandemic.
The Covid pandemic has propelled the future of work into the here and now. At present, most workers are preparing mentally, emotionally and physically for hybrid work as society prepares to re-emerge and re-imagine a new way of living and working. For organisations, this should encompass re-imagining workplace mental health (The Future of Work Institute, 2020).
Adapting and re-imagining workplace wellness will bring many challenges for organisations as employees return with different complex emotions in tow, for some possibly with post-pandemic-traumatic stress. First and second wave Covid psychological surveys were carried out by Maynooth University in 2020. Dr Philip Hyland stated that people were experiencing high levels of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress. The final research paper that studied 1041 participants revealed that over one in four Irish adults had screened positive for GAD or depression.
The results of these surveys and papers, alongside any additional research, should be reviewed carefully by governments and organisations to fully understand the extent of the pandemic’s psychosocial, political, and economic impact. Both should work closely together to promote positive psychological support to employees in times of crisis and beyond and realise the importance of needs-based mental health support in the workplace and how this contributes to public health on the whole (Hyland, et al. 2020)
There is no doubt that the above research results and subsequent research in light of the pandemic will directly affect the workplace. Therefore, workplace mental health initiatives will never be the same again, and they should not be. They need a complete overhaul. Now is an opportunity to reconnect with the humans in organisations and ask them openly what they need. Many of these people play a pivotal part in the social and economic recovery. Some will have spent the past year asking themselves who they are on a personal and professional level.
Organisational leaders must understand their employees as whole persons on a holistic level and discover what psychological well being and mental health will mean for them post-pandemic. This approach will allow for a more stigma-free collaborative dynamic of dual empowerment between leaders and employees. An intentional dynamic that can fuel recovery in all areas and, in many cases, provide preventative and coping strategies for employees returning with a crisis of identity and struggling with their mental health (Deloitte, 2021).
The objective of the assignment is to expand on the research above to discuss the CIPD statement advocating for support of workplace mental health promotion under these considerations:
What is psychological well-being, and how important is it to workplace mental health?
The cost burden of mental health in the workplace
Physical and mental health manifestations of workplace stress and its knock-on effects on society
Critical components of a successful workplace mental health program
What is psychological well-being, and how important is it to mental health in the workplace?
We understand that psychological well-being can be multifaceted and go beyond theoretical definitions and measurements due to individuality. However, to summarise, if employees say they are happy, fulfilled and satisfied with their life and work and show no psychological manifestations correlating to this, their psychological well-being is likely to be high (Robertson Cooper, n.d.).
There are two significant components to psychological well-being. The degree to which people perceive positive emotions and happiness is known as subjective well-being. While this plays a large part in a person’s overall psychological well-being, it is not enough alone to sustain it. We also need to experience the meaning and purpose of influencing these positive emotions and subjective well-being. Psychological well-being is the subjective happy feelings experienced when working on something that brings enjoyment and the sense that what we are doing with our lives has an element of meaning and purpose (Diener, 2000)
Psychological well-being falls into two categories “Hedonic” and “Eudaimonic”. Eudaimonic is the lesser-known element of psychological well-being, and it relates to actions that provide a feeling of impact and purpose, something that is important in people’s work. Carol Ryff’s theoretical model has been well documented in scientific research on psychological well-being. The eudaimonic components encompass feelings such as purpose, personal growth and autonomy.
High scores in these areas indicate a desire to do continual work on oneself, improve one’s behaviours, have a goal in life and identify the relevance of living well and controlling one’s behaviours independent of societal pressure. Organisations need people with these personality traits to grow and support their cultures and influence others. Therefore, appropriate needs-based approaches to support and grow these elements of subjective well-being with psychological support in the workplace will benefit the individual and the organisation on many levels (Ryff, 2014).
Why is all this important for people’s work and mental health? Humans need to feel like they are part of something that gives them an impact, purpose and belonging as a basic social need. However, many employees report feeling isolated and not heard at work. The fallout results in lower satisfaction levels and decreased organisational commitment and productivity, all of which can decrease psychological well-being (Harvard Business Review, 2019).
Research by Better Up in 2018 highlights the need for belonging to be prioritised in the workplace as a critical factor to organisational performance and reducing revenue and absenteeism due to feeling isolated. 56% of employees in this survey reported increased performance levels when they felt included and part of something. The report highlights significant gaps in organisational cultures that can contribute to deteriorations in employee’s whole health and overall well-being (Better Up, 2018).
A person’s psychological well-being and mental health will fluctuate over their life span as different challenges and circumstances show up; however, we must acknowledge that work is not the cause of all mental health issues. However, a study by Deloitte in 2017 highlights the benefits of cultivating a mentally healthy culture to improve working conditions for employees who have to come into work with psychological distress external to the workplace.
Some organisations will have witnessed this currently, with employees working from home in the pandemic and the physical, mental and emotional challenges this adds to daily life. Organisations should address this as a priority post-pandemic so employees can return to a workplace that actively advocates reducing the stigma associated with mental health hence empowering employees to continue to thrive, earn a living, and engage in preventative strategies to nourish their psychological wellness (Deloitte, 2017).
The cost burden of mental health in the workplace
Currently, absenteeism is still a significant challenge for organisations in Ireland. Stress was a substantial contributor to absenteeism, with over 20% of organisations noting increases in sick leave in the previous 12 months. In addition, 42% of companies in this survey stated that stress was cited regularly on medical certificates as the cause of an employee’s absence (CIPD, 2019).
The 2018 Health at a glance report by The European Commission highlighted that 1 in 6 people endure a mental health disorder at an estimated cost of €600 million to the economy (European Commission, 2018). Even more concerning was a prior report from 2016, which highlighted Ireland had one of the highest rates of mental health issues coming third out of thirty-six countries with 18.5% of the population suffering from mental illness (Mental Health Ireland, 2016).
Since the pandemic, income protection claims in Ireland for Aviva Insurance were the highest ever-paid psychological illness. More troubling is that their data shows claim payments have taken over from cancer as one of the main payouts on policies. Inevitably a sign that employers will have more psychological issues to address in the workplace as society returns to the office and a combination of hybrid work. Nearly 1 million days of absences were taken due to stress and anxiety since the Covid pandemic began. Nine sick days was the national average in Ireland since the onset of the pandemic. The highest level of absenteeism due to stress was among 18 to 24-year-olds, highlighting that early intervention is vital for employers to address appropriate action needs-based interventions post-Covid (Aviva Insurance, 2020).
Absenteeism is estimated to cost the Irish economy €1.5 billion annually, with up to 11 million sick days taken annually. This level of absenteeism has a significant impact not only on revenue and productivity but also on other employees’ mental health and stress levels (The Irish Examiner, 2018). On the opposite end of absenteeism, the estimated cost of presenteeism revealed by Deloitte was £45 million in the UK in 2017. The cause was highlighted as staff presenting while ill and underperforming. They calculate an ROI of £5 for every £1 invested in workplace mental health interventions (Deloitte, 2017).
Many factors incentivise organisations to adopt better workplace mental health approaches such as competitive advantages to attract talent, the drive to increase job satisfaction and performance to increase revenue and productivity. However, it is also viewed as a solution to a decline in the psychological well-being of employees from workplace stress and the implications this has for absenteeism and presenteeism (Kuhn, et al. 2020).
Research in 2016 by the ESRI shows that mental health-related issues such as stress, anxiety and depression account for 50% of work-related illness. The results highlight the need for more deliberate focused approaches to address employee’s challenges with mental health and combat and remedy the issues of productivity loss and the knock-on effects this has from a cost perspective for healthcare and social protection. In addition, stress, fatigue, and mental exhaustion reduce decision-making ability and rationale and create workplace conflict, impacting organisational culture, product and service delivery, all of which have a knock-on effect on brand reputation and revenue (Economic and Social Research Institute, 2016).
Physical and mental health manifestations of workplace stress and its knock-on effects on society
It is also imperative to consider how mental health in the workplace correlates to epidemiology. Organisations need to understand its knock-on effect on public health, notably implementing and monitoring policy change in the broader society. Individuals with untreated mental disorders show up in their workplaces with an illness that impairs them physically, mentally, and emotionally. Statistics and research related to mental health and its implications in the workplace, if not addressed in general and in their professional environments specifically, are compelling (Goetzel, et al. 2018).
Anxiety disorders can lead to many physical manifestations and complications. In 2016 research revealed Ireland as ranking anxiety as the 6th most common health problem in society. In addition, anxiety was noted as causing the most incapacity measured by years lived with disability (Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, 2018).
According to the World Health Organisation, mental health disorders are now factored in as one of the main contributory elements of disability. WHO acknowledges that disability not only harms individuals on many levels but also affects the wider community. The damage to society of dismissing disabled individuals from playing an active part in society is great, as are inequities. This isolation inevitably results in decreased productivity and a significant loss of human potential (World Health Organisation, 2019).
Organisations need to consider this possibility in the future of work and from a corporate social responsibility perspective. A focus on employee well-being and mental health should be considered an organisation’s number one corporate social responsibility post-pandemic to ensure their employees, who are their lifeline, are around to build their business and serve their communities and clients. Developing mental health programs to support staff’s psychological wellness should begin at the heart of an organisation like charity begins at home.
The World Economic Forum predicts that workplace well-being initiatives alone can save as much as $700 per employee annually, add to that the proven return of investment of cultivating a mentally healthy and happy culture and consider the long-term gains and boosted productivity that could truly be reinvested in more extensive corporate social responsibility initiatives (World Economic Forum, 2013).
Critical components of a successful workplace mental health program
McKinsey & Company’s report from November 2020 revealed that 62% of global employees recognise mental health concerns as a significant challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, while 96% of global organisations globally provided further mental health and psychological support to staff, it was reported that only one in six employees felt supported. What is the disconnect that needs to be addressed further? Trust? (McKinsey & Company, 2020).
Organisations that focus on creating cultures of health integrating health into people’s thinking, being and doing while encompassing supportive, empowering and encouraging environments are crucial to workplace health interventions and promotions working. (Kent, et al., 2016) Research links trust in the workplace as a cornerstone for mental health at work. When a high level of trust is present, employees are likely to experience a workplace supporting their mental health (Walton, 2019).
By creating a mentally healthy culture where encouraging employees to communicate their emotional and mental health needs and nurture their well-being in a safe space, leaders can reject cultures that assume work should come before personal, physical, and emotional needs. Instead, organisations and their leadership teams can empower employees to buy into their whole health, develop and grow mentally and emotionally fit for others who matter in their lives and work (World Economic Forum, 2021).
Conclusion
The pandemic has shown, we can take nothing for granted. There is a mental health pandemic running concurrently. As a result, it has also shown us that we cannot take people and their emotions for granted. With the probability of mental health continuing to deteriorate further based on the current research available just a year into the pandemic, which is stark, the necessity for organisations to support employee’s mental health never has been a higher priority to address than now (The Irish Times, 2021).
Workplaces need to provide safe spaces to manage anxiety, stress and overwhelm while addressing the emotional needs of their people and appropriately giving them access to the mental health resources they need to build the stamina to keep going. They need their leaders to be vulnerable and show empathy. Safe spaces must be created and shown from the top down to cultivate trust (Joly, 2020).
Successful interventions combining holistic and evidence-based scientific approaches can undeniably reduce any cost burden to employers due to absence from mental illness. More collaboration between policymakers and the private sector would help promote accurate, more precise economic evaluations and measurements of success to shape beneficial interventions and health promotion campaigns in the future (Goetzel, et al. 2018)
Employers need to prioritise mental health to develop and strengthen a more robust workforce and restore the economy post-pandemic and beyond. Furthermore, companies should treat positive psychological well-being as a comprehensive skill that is crucial to input and output and can be measured by the success of these metrics. To conclude, it is evident from the analysis here that companies need to promote good mental health as we advance as the human, economic and social costs associated with not addressing this are significant and detrimental to many aspects of employee’s whole health and public health.
Mental health occurs along a continuum, with flourishing and positive mental health on one end and grave mental illnesses or addictions on the other. In between, there is a spectrum of conditions that fluctuate in severity and consequences that employers must understand and support (World Economic Forum, 2021).
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