It’s no secret that excessive stress is a health hazard. In fact, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has classified stress as the health epidemic of the 21st century. And yet, many employees still fail to take the concept of stress seriously – or worse, laugh it off altogether.

We all experience stress – it’s a normal part of personal and professional life. But the latest research suggests that cases of workplace stress are on the rise, and the human and company cost is huge.

A recent study by Mental Health UK found one in five employees have required time off due to poor mental health cayes, Mental Health trainer and preventative services lead – Vita Health Groupused by stress in the past year, and in 2022/2023 work-related stress, depression and anxiety resulted in 35.2 million lost working days. 

Employers are paying a high price for our increasingly stressed-out nation – the estimated yearly cost of stress and poor mental health for UK employers is between £33-42bn, with over half of that due to presenteeism. 

It begs the question: can organisations really afford to be laughing off employee stress? And if not, what can they do to prevent stress reaching crisis point, both for their employees and themselves?

Is stress really so bad?

We know that stress is an unavoidable part of life, but too much stress could be a recipe for disaster and the human cost, catastrophic. Left unchecked and unmanaged, stress can interfere with someone’s ability to lead a normal life for a significant period of time. 

In the workplace, you might notice the impact of stress in an employee’s emotional wellbeing. Symptoms can include reduced work performance, social withdrawal, emotional outbursts, poor concentration, and reduced confidence. 

The fact is, you cannot separate mental from physical health – one will always have an effect on the other. In longer-term episodes, the activation of the stress response system can disrupt almost all of the body’s processes. 

With all of this in mind, it’s little wonder that mental ill-health is the leading cause of sickness absence in the UK.

How is stigma contributing to the problem?

Although we’ve come a long way, there’s still a perception among many that having mental health challenges is a sign of weakness. 

If employees feel they cannot speak up and speak out about how they are feeling, it may only compound their feelings of stress and anxiety. 

In fact, a Mind poll found that 95% of employees calling in sick with stress gave a different reason for being off and 48% said they would not talk to their employer about their mental health. 

It can be particularly hard to build an accepting culture in workplaces where employees mainly use stress as a motivator. These employees may find it harder to empathise with, and have little tolerance for, those who find stress difficult and overwhelming.

How to deal with stress in the workplace

It’s vital that organisations – for whom many are currently desperate to retain and attract employees amid current labour shortages – up their game.

The billions lost every year to stress and poor mental health could be reduced by one-third if employers attend to mental health. 

In their review of mental health and employers in 2017, Stevenson and Farmer outlined an approach and vision which included moving to a society where ‘all of us become more aware of our own mental health, other people’s mental health and how to cope with our own and other people’s mental health when it fluctuates’. 

To achieve their vision, Stevenson and Farmer set out a framework of mental health core standards drawn from best practice and evidence, which are as follows: 

• Produce, implement and communicate a mental health at work plan;
• Develop mental health awareness among employees;
• Encourage open conversations about mental health and the support available when employees are struggling;
• Provide employees with good working conditions and ensure they have a healthy work life balance and opportunities for development;
• Promote effective people management through line managers and supervisors;
• Routinely monitor employee mental health and wellbeing.

It’s evident that managing workplace stress and mental health is not all about policy and process. 

A huge part of it is ensuring employees – especially managers as those who often have the biggest influence on an employee’s experience – are equipped with the skills and confidence to spot the signs, know the right questions to ask, and understand where to guide a person to for support. A Mental Health First Aid course would help to provide employees with a great foundation. 

Above all else, workplaces must be safe spaces where employees feel they can talk about their mental health, without being punished for doing so. Too often, the fear of speaking out prevents individuals from accessing the support they may desperately need.

The question to ask yourself now is this: do you want your organisation to be part of the problem or the solution?

www.vitahealthgroup.co.uk