By Alison Pay, managing director, Mental Health at Work

Given the higher level of formal diagnoses of mental health issues amongst younger employees, who feel less able to talk about it,  how can organisations  address this?

By 2020 millennials are forecast to make up 35% of the global workforce, according to a recent article¹ in the Financial Times.   Given the large numbers of millennials in the workplace, then, it makes sense for employers to understand what this demographic wants and needs from the world of work,  not just in terms of their aspirations but also their health  – including mental  health – requirements.

A recent report entitled Mental Health at Work² from Business in the Community in conjunction with Mercer, highlights that almost half of employees are not comfortable talking about mental health in the workplace.  And while this applies across all genders and ages, the millennial generation experiences this most keenly.

The survey shows that almost one third of employees have been formally diagnosed with a mental health condition at some point in their life.

Younger employees at higher risk of having mental health issues

The statistics for young people in the survey are concerning – 37% of those aged 18-29 have been formally diagnosed with a mental health condition, compared to 30% of employees over 50, with over half indicating a reluctance to talk about mental health at work for fear of negative career consequences.  

Young people, including young line managers, are less likely to discuss and respond to mental health issues in the workplace, according to the survey. Those in their 20s feel less comfortable talking to their manager about a mental health issue than  those in their 40s and 60s, yet they are actually more likely to feel that their manager is concerned about their wellbeing.

Younger managers aged 18-29 are more likely to see barriers to actually supporting their employees overall than their older counterparts. In particular, they think that they have no resources or materials to support them and that they’d be unsure where to go to enlist such help.

Understanding the data

The root of mental health issues is varied and often circumstantial. Two-thirds of employees say that their mental health and wellbeing is affected by their personal job security and by the state of the economy – concerns which may worsen in the run up to Brexit. The study considers the causal relationship between finances and mental health, with over a third reporting that their financial situation negatively affects their mental health.

For younger workers, financial concerns have a disproportionate impact, causing three-fifths of them to experience a negative mental health symptom, including loss of sleep, stress, lack of concentration, and fatigue. Almost all younger workers say that their mental health is affected by the cost of living.

Part of the reason that young people find themselves in a particularly difficult position at work may be due to lack of experience and training of younger workers. Because they are just starting their career, they often don’t have the confidence to speak out.   

Costs relating to workforce mental health are often hidden and can be more damaging than is immediately apparent.  Managers may not be aware of the issues in their own workplace, since the majority of employees who have been absent with poor mental health have given an alternative reason.

Some solutions

It is good to see that, as the survey shows, young people do feel able to ask for support at work.  New to the world of work, young employees should be given the help and encouragement they need to speak openly about mental health without fearing that

it will have a negative impact on their job prospects. But while having a conversation about mental health is good, there has also to be a parallel commitment to provide effective signposting and support when it is needed.

Practical arrangements can certainly play a part.  Some companies are recognising that expensive benefits like a pension may not be priorities for some of their workforce, particularly their younger employees, and are allowing individuals to choose where best to allocate a company contribution to improve their financial security. Younger employees were more likely to say that time at home or flexible working would be beneficial.

Mental Health at Work recommends that employers should take a three-step approach to ensure good mental health in the workplace.

 

1. Talk

Break the culture of silence that surrounds mental health.  The aim should be to remove the stigma around discussing mental health at in the workplace

2. Train

Invest in basic mental health literacy for all employees, skills training to support line manager capability and provide signposting support and confidential listening across the organisation. Be explicit about the responsibility of line managers towards younger employees.  

Often a line manager or colleague has noticed behavioural changes that might indicate a mental health issue and hasn’t known how to open a conversation on the topic. There is a real opportunity for line managers, colleagues, or HR to open a conversation long before an issue becomes a problem.   Good training will provide the structure and skills for everyone to understand and manage the mental health continuum and to develop the confidence to hold professional conversations when they notice that they or someone else is moving from health/ wellness to issues or even illness.   It should set learning objectives and use a range of facilitation skills to meet these, be skills-based and bespoke in content.

3. Take action

Develop a programme strategy and implement practical actions to bring change across the organisation.

The health of each and every organisation depends on the wellbeing of its employees. By creating a bespoke and long-term strategy, built around a framework and embedded into process across the employee lifecycle, companies can better secure the long-term success of their businesses. The survey reinforces the fact that employers urgently need to transform their workplace culture and practices to better respond to the mental health of all their employees, with a particular focus on young people. They must ensure that the range of support they offer, and the culture that they have created, truly works for people of all ages. 

 

¹ https://www.ft.com/content/f81ac17a-68ae-11e8-b6eb-4acfcfb08c11

² http://mhaw.uk.com/mental-health-at-work-report-2018/

Alison Pay is Managing Director, Mental Health at Work (MHaW)

Mental Health at Work provides advice, consultancy and innovative solutions to improve mental health within workplaces through education, skills development and cultural change.  Website:  http://mhaw.uk.com/