Three Hidden Ways That Poor Mental Health May Be Affecting Your Business’ Bottom Line
Businesses across Lancashire are increasingly recognising the importance of employee mental health and are starting to ask how they can improve mental wellbeing in the workplace.
In 2021, mental health issues were the main reason for employees taking time off work, which is higher than the percentage of absences that were due to COVID. Additionally, 1 in 4 employees admit to taking time off (when they are not ill) because of burnout, stress and tiredness, which if left untreated can lead to further mental health issues . These numbers are expected to rise as we come out of the pandemic.
But how else does poor mental health affect your business? It is much easier to recognise the ways that poor physical health impacts your bottom line but could you identify the hidden ways that poor mental health affects your organisation?
Below are just three lesser-known consequences that arise for businesses as a result of poor employee mental health:
- Productivity drops because of low engagement – employees who are affected by stress or mental health problems such as anxiety or even depression, can really struggle to go about their daily tasks as they regularly would. The ability to focus on one task or multi-task can be extremely challenging, meaning that productivity rates in your business could plummet as a result of employees experiencing these issues.
- Team dynamic suffers – when a colleague is experiencing poor mental health, they often isolate themselves from others and can sometimes struggle with effective communication. As an organisation, this can be costly as essential work processes can quickly breakdown, and as a result, tasks take much longer or even end up unfinished.
- Human error occurs – we’re all aware that when we are stressed, feeling down or frustrated, our decision making is affected. It’s similar for those with poor mental health as the ability to concentrate, think clearly and pay attention to detail is affected. This can easily result in mistakes being made within the workplace.
Just how costly could a human error be in your business?
Do you see issues like this in your business? What are you doing to prevent them reoccurring?
Mental health is no longer a taboo subject in the workplace, but as a business owner, you may not know how to approach the topic of mental health with your employees. We’re here to help. If you don’t know where to start and need some FREE bespoke guidance on what your team would benefit from, get in touch with us and we will be happy to help.