Developing a Mental Health Strategy

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) reports that stress, anxiety and depression are responsible for almost half of the working days lost in the UK due to health issues. In addition, the Covid-19 pandemic has spotlighted the correlation between work and mental health, making the necessity for a robust mental health strategy even greater.

So how exactly can you develop the best mental health strategy for your organisation?

What is a Mental Health Strategy? This should cover your organisation’s policies, procedures and initiatives. It should cover:

• Prevention of mental health issues, where possible, and early intervention if a potential problem is suspected.
• Accessibility of treatment, services, and resources.
• The physical and psychological well-being of employees.
• Employees’ work-life balance.
• Employee absence and reduction of presenteeism.
• Mental health awareness among managers and staff.

To implement a mental health strategy that will not only protect your employees but will also help to engender an open culture, where people feel supported and encouraged to speak up about their mental well-being, follow the steps below…

As with most workplace processes and plans, your mental health policies and procedures should be formally recorded and treated to benchmark how your company addresses mental health.

The policy should apply to all employees and be implemented across the company, acknowledging what you intend to do, including:

• How you will promote the well-being of all staff.
• How you will identify the causes of work-related mental health problems.
• The support you intend to offer to employees experiencing poor mental health.
• Signposting to relevant internal and external sources.
• A reference to the Equality Act 2010, acknowledging that mental health may be classed as a disability.

When drafting your policy, start with a clear statement that shows your organisation’s commitment to promoting good mental health in the workplace. It should also set out your broader cultural aims relating to mental health awareness and communication.

Outline the responsibilities of key stakeholders, including senior leaders, HR, occupational health and employees.

These may be concerning the Equality Act, your duty of care or the process of mental ill-health prevention and early intervention. In addition, refer to relevant internal policies, including your disability discrimination policy and any policies on flexible hours, remote working, parental leave and short-term disability leave.

Set out the advice and support available to employees and how they can access it. This might include access to Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs), mental health first aiders, occupational health, mental health services or counselling.

When updating your policies, you should adjust company aims to be more inclusive of people with mental health issues and expand professional service provision to meet these aims (e.g. providing access to counselling).

Your draft policies can then be communicated to employees to ensure they know what is available to them and allow them to comment on the changes before you finalise the wording. Establish a process for evaluating the effectiveness of your policy and keeping it under regular review.

The effectiveness of your policy can be assessed through data such as:

• Sickness absence and return to work rates.
• Uptake of support (e.g. EAPs). Creating your plan with employee feedback boosts buy-in and gives a clear direction for the type of support that employees will receive.
• You can set up consultations to gather feedback and show your commitment.
• Build a workplace culture that supports mental health and well-being and prevents discrimination.
• Improve knowledge and understanding of mental health and well-being.
• Facilitate initiatives that support mental health and well-being among staff.
• Reduce the stigma associated with mental ill-health.
• Employee satisfaction surveys.
• Employee turnover rates and exit interview data.
• Percentage of employees and managers completing mental health training.

It’s important to ensure that managers have the right skills. According to the CIPD, management style is the second leading cause of work-related stress, which is why it’s so important that managers have the right skills to nurture employees’ mental health and well-being.

To mitigate the effects of stress and poor mental health at work, research from the CIPD has highlighted there are critical areas of competency for managers. These include: openness, fairness and consistency, e.g. creating realistic deadlines encouraging participation from the whole team. For example, conflict and problem handling, e.g. dealing with problems as they arise and acting as a mediator, keeping the team informed and guiding in a mentor-style capacity, and building and sustaining relationships by following up any employee issues and having regular team meetings.

Managers can also help by identifying if someone is struggling with their mental health. Warning signs might include fatigue, anxiety, loss of motivation, irritability, lateness, or increased sickness absence. These indicators can be triggered by workplace issues or by external problems.

Given that stress is a crucial contributor to poor workplace mental health, employees should have a good work-life balance to avoid potential burnout. Central to this is encouraging healthier behaviours – often with senior staff and line managers leading by example – aligning with your broader policy or strategy. There is a legal requirement to ensure that all employees work reasonable hours (e.g. no more than 48-hours a week, averaged over 17 weeks), take daily breaks, periods of rest and their full annual leave entitlement. However, the general 9–5 working day framework is a better starting point for most employees.

With hybrid working models gaining popularity, it’s essential to stress that employees should not be working outside their agreed hours, including sending or responding to emails and text messages. Senior leaders and line managers all play a crucial role in setting the standards for work-life balance. For example, if a line manager tells employees to take regular breaks but consistently works overtime and sends emails out-of-hours themselves, employees will likely feel pressured to follow this example.

A successful mental health strategy heavily relies on senior managers’ buy-in. A great place to start is by linking the benefits of your strategy with company objectives. For example, promoting mental health overlaps with this aim if the organisation wants to increase staff retention. It’s important to reinforce that your mental health policy is not owned by anyone but by everyone, including senior leaders. Allow senior managers to review and comment on the document as part of the rollout to ensure they are well versed in its contents and are committed to the policy implementation and success. It may also be helpful to speak with each senior manager individually to explain the reasons for introducing the policy and gain their commitment to attend training.

Research suggests it is more expensive not to have a mental health strategy when weighing up the hidden costs of not investing. The costs of recruitment, sick leave and presenteeism can all quickly add up for employers, with the combined cost to employers being a staggering £45bn (Deloitte).

For assistance in developing a mental health strategy, get in touch with the team at IHRS. Email HRhelp@ihrsolutions.co.uk, call 01604 709509 or visit our website.