Why mental health is your key to success

Mental health is a firmly established buzzword in the Western business world. The Covid pandemic saw to that. When I started The Circle Line, a workplace psychology company, it certainly wasn’t - so there is one silver-lining to emerge from the pandemic.

But it’s more than a buzzword. Or at least it should be. 

People are the bedrock of your business. They are inextricably linked with your culture and your financial success. 

“Culture isn't just one aspect of the game, it is the game. In the end, an organisation is nothing more than the collective capacity of its people to create value.” 

— Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., Former CEO of IBM

Your culture is the “mind” of your business; the underlying atmosphere, the behaviours you see and the rules and company-wide practices that allow them and embody your values. 

So we need to pay attention to the “minds” that make up our business. Underlying your culture is the particular mindset and personality of every individual in it. Good mental health is the bedrock. It affects everything from the tone of your Monday morning meetings to the efficacy of your sales strategy to the way you speak to customers on the phone.

The Stats

• Happy workers are 13% more productive.
• 1 in 3 sick notes are for mental health reasons.
• Workplace conflict costs £30BN a year.
• Losing a good employee costs you £30,000.
• 91% of employees want to innovate; 76% leaders believe they empower them to, but just 34% feel it.

The Stories

Behind every stat there’s a story….

John, 43, an Account Director, is loud, fun and punchy. A great salesperson. He’s also burnt out and angry. He loves the intensity of client work but he’s exhausted. He thinks his boss micro-manages him and he feels he’s being stifled. He’s increasingly angry (and drinking too much to relax) but thinks nothing can change.

On the flip-side, Jasmin, 26, is a Customer Care assistant. She's bright, quiet and focussed. She can also be withdrawn and anxious. She says she’s an introvert and is fine with that. But she knows she rarely speaks in meetings. Her manager is frustrated and tells her to contribute more. Jasmin thinks she's just “not a team player” and avoids team meetings. It’s a downward spiral. She starts working longer hours but avoiding more and more contact with colleagues. And there’s no help for her to change things.

What’s this costing you?

Sick leave, reduced productivity, toxic teams, prickly behaviour with clients… 

It’s all costing you on average £2,646 a year per employee (Deloitte, 2022). So if you’re a business with a staff of say 200, that’s over £500k a year.

Half a million pounds. Think what you spend on office rent, or IT. And just what you could achieve if every one of your staff was on top form…

So what to do?

Wellbeing at work is mental, physical and social. It encompasses virtually everything from the benefits you offer, the training you offer, to the culture you create.

First, look internally and commit to the values you believe in. Tony Hsieh, CEO of extraordinarily successful Zappos says: 

“Come up with core values that you can commit to. And by commit, I mean that you’re willing to hire and fire based on them.”

The health and satisfaction of your people needs to be a priority. Commit to treat them and each other well. Which means defining what treating well looks like. And then supporting them and training them to do it.

Why don’t all companies invest heavily in staff mental health? Well, partly because it’s a new thing, and because it’s complicated. And with the wealth of options out there post-Covid, where do you start?

Mental health is hard to visualise. Thoughts and emotions are hard to see.  To simplify things, you can think of these four key areas:

1. Listening: getting employee feedback and data through focus groups, surveys and wearables.
2. Talking: normalise self-development. Make it part of everyday work life.
3. Informing: education is key. Train your staff in team dynamics, personality and mindset.
4. Supporting & Developing: through 1:1 counselling and coaching. 

An effective approach to mental health is varied, company-wide and joined up. Colleagues need to be engaged with it and relate to it. It may be a little complicated. People are. But the good news is, it works.

And the results…?

Here, I quote Deloitte, who conducted one of the largest studies into workplace wellbeing in recent times. 

“Employers can invest in the mental wellbeing of employees through measures such as screening, training, promoting general awareness of mental health, targeted interventions and personal therapy. 

The average return is £5.30 for every £1 invested”

(Deloitte Report: Mental health and employers, The case for investment – pandemic and beyond, 2022)

But beyond money, it’s also about attracting and retaining talent. Reputation is important and knowing you're a good place to work will invite good people in. Having a team who stay and want to work for you because they understand and trust each other is invaluable - or at least very hard to quantify.

And finally - a key piece of the picture - having more satisfied staff leads to more satisfied customers. A study of one large retail chain showed that for each 1% increase in a manager’s job satisfaction, there was a 5% increase in customer spending. 

Which brings us in a circle back to money.

Investing in your people’s wellbeing is the right thing to do. It’s also the smart thing to do. And it’s the commercial thing to do.  

It’s a win-win-win.

Want to find out more about what we do?

If you want to discuss some of the issues further, please feel free to get in touch with us at hello@thecircleline.co.uk