Opening up about mental health is becoming much easier, thanks to the growth in awareness, the drive to remove the stigma, and the increasing availability of services to help those living with mental health conditions.
Almost 30% of businesses have seen a rise in the number of employees taking time off due to mental health issues, meaning that employees are finally beginning to feel more confident and able to open up about their mental health with their employer.
While time off, for employers, may seem like a negative, it doesn’t take into account the time saved as a result of getting help for issues that may worsen over time, and have a bigger impact on the workplace.
As an employer, you have a duty of care to empower your team to not only help themselves, but to make it easier for them to access services if they need to. Unfortunately, not every employee feels comfortable offloading any issues or concerns onto their line manager, and likewise, it’s not expected of employers to become trained counsellors.
One of the most effective solutions workplaces have introduced over the last 50 years is an Employee Assistance Programme, developed to help employees facing difficult situations that may be having a negative impact on their performance at work.
An EAP is a cost-effective way to offer staff the opportunity to seek confidential help from trained professionals, independently of the workplace. Whilst the service can be, and often is, used for mental health related issues, it can also be used for financial worries, relationship issues and much more, so it can provide suitable support for the entire team.
Ultimately, a happy team is a more productive team, and employers hold a unique position in which they can positively influence their staff and their performance at work.
As a corporate Paycare Policyholder, your employees already have access to EAP as part of your plan (whether employee or employer-paid) – so do remind them that the service is there. Or, if you’d like to find out more about Paycare and how we help businesses get the most from their teams, do get in touch with a member of the team.