ao.com has achieved the successful delivery of four Mental Health First Aid courses. SO Coach delivered each course at it's offices in Manchester. AO now has 50+ trained Mental Health First Aiders across it's business.
A whole organisation approach to mental health is one that should be commended, work is good for health and health is good for business. Healthy people are happier, more engaged and more productive. We spend over half of our lives at work and it makes sense that the places we work in and the people who work in them are as healthy as they can be.
The costs of ignoring mental health
Stress, anxiety and depression are the biggest cause of sickness absence in our society, causing 15.8 million days of absence in the UK in 2016 (Office for National Statistics, 2017: Sickness absence in the labour market: 2016). Mental ill health costs UK employers an estimated £35 billion each year - broken down, that’s £10.6 billion in sickness absence, £21.2 billion in reduced productivity, and £3.1 billion in replacing staff who leave their jobs for mental health-related reasons.
How healthy is your workplace now?
Evaluating where you are on the journey towards a healthy organisation will set the stage for measuring the effectiveness of your investment in mental health. Revisit this exercise regularly to gauge the impact of your wellbeing strategy and keep informing your policies and procedures.
You may wish to consider:
What percentage of sickness absence is related to mental ill health?
How are mental health-related absences managed in practice? Are they handled the same way as other absences?
What policies and procedures are in place for managing absences?
What support is available to your employees? How often is it accessed?
Is support offered proactively and early, engaging before the person goes off sick?
Is mental health recognised as...
Well done to ao.com
For it's pro-activity and approach to mental health, helping to reduce the stigma and training it's employees to spot the signs and support people who may be in a crisis. Early intervention is essential in an individuals recovery...
To book an inhouse course for your employees and begin the whole organisation approach to mental health, please contact Simon - simon@socoach.co.uk
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