How to encourage greater openness around mental health and the impact on financial wellbeing
Monzo’s founder, Tom Blomfield, recently revealed that he’s quitting the digital bank, citing mental health as the leading cause. A study led by Oxford University showed that the mental health of parents has worsened as a result of national Covid-19 restrictions. While the Centre of Mental Health has worked with the NHS to build a forecast model that estimates up to 10 million people in the UK will require new or additional mental health support in the year ahead.
It’s not looking rosy for the UK’s mental health. These issues will inevitable have a significant effect on people’s abilities to deal with their finances, and we may also see a knock on effect on an employee’s ability to cope at work (as in the case of Tom Blomfield). So what can employers do to ensure that their colleagues feel supported around mental health and, in turn, feel content to speak out if they’re struggling?
Your employees are different
Last year, the Money and Mental Health Institute launched their report, ‘Mind the income gap’ which revealed that mental health for people from BAME backgrounds can contribute to mental health problems and impact the income they receive. The report acknowledged that experiences of unconscious bias, racism and discrimination, as well as social and economic inequalities, can significantly impact mental health problems.
This is where employers come in. Many employers these days recognise the need to provide mental health support to their employees. However, how many offer a diverse range of support with diversity and inclusion at its heart? Employers have a central role to play in supporting people from BAME backgrounds to remain and thrive at work.
One option to diversify the mental health and financial wellbeing support in place could be to equip hiring and line managers with an understanding of structural discrimination, its effect on mental health and the skills to challenge this within the support services you provide.
Another option is to dissect the services you do offer, making sure to take into account the vast array of different backgrounds that make up your workforce. For example, if you hold a session on debt and its effect on mental health, are you also speaking to how a single parent might deal with debt, compared to your typical nuclear family? These are important things to consider to ensure that your workforce feels heard, and understood.
Make Time to Talk
Time to Talk Day 2021 is on Thursday 4 February. The annual campaign aims to change the way people think and act about mental health problems. This year, the theme focuses around The Power of Small – small differences people can make to help end the isolation and shame many sufferers feel.
You can make this change in your workforce too. Small changes like ensuring line managers are taking the time to call their colleagues to talk about topics other than work. Even small acts like talking openly about mental health struggles can help employees feel supported.
Think outside the box
Analysis by The Money and Mental Health Policy Institute (2017) found that two-thirds of employees who are struggling financially have at least one sign of poor mental health that could affect their ability to function at work, such as loss of sleep, poor concentration and reduced motivation. As an employer, if you feel you provide all the mental health and financial wellbeing support you can, how about thinking outside the box?
The first coronavirus lockdown caused a sharp increase of insomnia in the UK. A study carried out by King’s College London and Ipsos MORI in May 2020 found that 36% of people aged between 35 and 44 years said they had been experiencing poorer quality sleep than before Covid-19. The quality of sleep, or lack of it, can have a detrimental impact on your employees’ mental health and overall financial wellbeing. Taking this into account, it’s worth putting in some effort to ensure that your employees get enough sleep.
Having a good night’s sleep can help employees with motivation, concentration, decision making abilities and productivity. It can also have a positive impact on their abilities to deal with financial stress, and the hope is that their mental health will improve if they’re getting more sleep.
A few ways to support your employees with their sleep are:
- help your employees create boundaries between work and personal time by communicating your expectations around working hours and the importance of relaxation
- educate managers on ways to support employees who are experiencing poor sleep quality by signposting resources like those from The Sleep Council
- ensure you have a health and wellbeing policy that promotes healthy sleep and stresses its importance.
This article is provided by Hargreaves Lansdown.
In partnership with Hargreaves Lansdown
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