The next step

The Thriving at work report

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Employee mental health - is it improving?

Thriving at work

The review was led by Lord Dennis Stevenson and Paul Farmer, Chief Executive of Mind. This resulted in the report Thriving at Work (TAW) published in October 2017 (see The next step ). The TAW report looked at the current state of mental health in the workplace and made 40 recommendations including many which were aimed directly at employers. Its aim was to show how employers could create healthy inclusive workplaces, with support for those suffering from poor mental health.

The findings

The authors found that 15% of the current working population have symptoms of an existing mental health condition. For many, this leads to economic crisis: each year 300,000 workers lose their jobs due to long-term mental health problems. Research has shown that this category of ill health is costing UK employers between £33 billion and £42 billion per year.

Standards and recommendations

Within the recommendations are six core standards for employers which are, in summary:

1. Implementing a mental health at work plan.
2. Developing awareness of the issues among employees.
3. Encouraging open conversations.
4. Providing employees with good working conditions, a work life balance and opportunities for development.
5. Effective line management/supervision.
6. Monitoring employee mental health and wellbeing.

There are a further four enhanced standards aimed at larger employers which cover: (1)  internal and external reporting; (2) leadership (by nominating a board level leader on mental health); (3)  encouraging disclosure of conditions by providing support to staff and applicants; and (4)  providing tailored in-house mental health support.

Tip. To review your effectiveness in helping staff to manage their mental health, the core standards are a good place to start. Read the TAW report to fully understand what this means in practice.

How’s everyone doing?

Paul Farmer has outlined the progress made in a blog (see The next step ). He reports that NHS England has developed a health and wellbeing framework, whilst the civil service has trained its leaders in mental health and developed in-house tools to measure progress.

Meanwhile, the water industry has recently measured its own progress. In a survey of 15 water companies 87% said they had achieved compliance against the six core standards, and 68% confirmed compliance against both the core and enhanced standards. Unfortunately, not everyone is doing so well. The highways sector, which employs over a quarter of a million workers, reports that a third of its employers do not have a mental health strategy in place.

For a copy of the Thriving at Work report and a link to Paul Farmer’s blog, visit http://tipsandadvice-healthandsafety.co.uk/download (HS 18.11.02).