Mental health and well-being practices, outcomes and productivity Research Showcase

Mental health and well-being practices,
outcomes and productivity
Research Showcase
Scarman Conference Centre
Enterprise Research Centre
Warwick Business School
23 May 2023

Welcome and introduction
Stephen Roper
23 May 2023

Work, mental health and well-being
• The role of employers in developing and implementing workplace
cultures, practices and interventions which can support a healthy and
productive workforce is widely acknowledged
• So is the importance of the workplace as a site of health promotion –
requiring inputs from both employers, employees and wider society
(ENWIP 2007).
• Despite this, recent estimates put the annual productivity costs of poor
mental health and well-being at around as well as £53-56 billion for UK
employers (Deloitte, 2022).
• In addition, the non-productivity costs of poor mental health in the UK -
intangible human costs and quality of life impacts, costs of health and
service care – are estimated to be £117.9bn, approximately 5% of UK GDP
(McDaid et al. 2022).

So to today…
• This landscape – the potential benefits of workplace health
promotion and on-going costs when we get it wrong – provide the
context for today’s discussion
• We will consider:
– What is the current state of workplace health and well-being?
– What are employers doing? How is this changing?
– What more can be done? What does the evidence suggest?
• A few ‘thank-you’s before we start

Workplace Mental Health in Midlands firms
2023: A longitudinal study
Dr Maria Wishart
Maria.Wishart@wbs.ac.uk
Prof Stephen Roper
Stephen.Roper@wbs.ac.uk
Dr Vicki Belt
Vicki.Belt@wbs.ac.uk

Workplace Mental Health in Midlands firms 2023: A
longitudinal study
1. Why study workplace mental health?
2. Building a longitudinal dataset
3. Evidence from four waves of employer surveys: 2020 to 2023
4. What does this all mean for policy and practice?

Why study workplace mental health?
• 4th most common cause of sickness absence in the UK in 2022, with 18.5 million
working days lost (ONS, 2023)
• Firm-level impacts:
• Absenteeism (the time workers spend off work due to ill-health)
• Presenteeism (workers being at work but not performing as expected because of ill-health, or
working beyond contracted hours)
• Staff turnover (the need to replace workers who leave employment due to ill-health)
• Costs of mental health issues to UK business estimated at £56bn/yr, up from £45bn in
2020 (Deloitte, 2022)
• Calls to put psychological safety on the same footing as physical safety (BITC, 2023)

Building a longitudinal dataset
• Computer Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI) survey covering Midlands employer
experiences of workplace mental health, awareness & adoption of mental health initiatives
• For-profit and voluntary sector firms (not govt. or public sector) operating for at least 3 years,
with a minimum 10 employees, in East & West Midlands
• Wave 1: Jan-March 2020 (Pre-Covid): 1,899 firms
• Wave 2: Jan-April 2021: 1,551 firms
• Wave 3: Jan-April 2022: 1,904 firms
• Wave 4: Jan-May 2023: 1,902 firms

Building a longitudinal dataset
• Balancing longitudinal data requirements with environmental changes
• Critical importance of consistency for integrity of longitudinal evidence
• Need to reflect changing environmental factors, hence:
• Addition of COVID-19 questions (e.g., uptake of govt support, use of and impact of furlough)
• Addition of hybrid working questions following pandemic
• Amended questioning related to technology/high-tech working
• Need to keep to c20 minute interview, hence additional questions mean deletions

Evidence from four waves of employer survey data
Headlines from 2023
1. Mental health sickness absence has increased slightly, but remains below pre-pandemic levels
2. Presenteeism increased sharply in the most recent survey: has now surpassed pre-pandemic levels
3. The majority of employers acknowledge they have responsibility to manage workplace mental health,
but most have not formalised their strategic approach towards it
4. Half of firms have adopted mental health initiatives and activities, and more are training line
managers, but still a strong reliance on no-cost practices to manage workplace mental health issues
5. COVID-19 working practices legacy: 16% of firms report that they introduced (and retained) remote
working since the pandemic, and acknowledge the implications

Mental health absence up slightly, but still below
2020
Source: ERC (2023) Workplace Mental Health in Midlands firms 2023: A longitudinal study
Mental health related absence, all firms, 2020 to 2023 Mental health related absence by size and sector, 2023
27%
26%
25%
30%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%
2023
2022
2021
2020
36%
27%
24%
21%
18%
24%
47%
46%
29%
17%
27%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%
Other services
Business Services
Hospitality
Wholesale, retail
Construction
Production
250 plus
50-249
20-49
10-19
All firms

More firms reporting impacts of mental health
absence
Firms reporting impact of MH absence, all firms, 2020 to
2023
Impacts reported, all firms, 2023
8%
10%
13%
15%
19%
35%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
Costs
More work for others
Pressure on others
Lower service/quality
Productivity/efficiency
Recruit/find cover
58%
53%
41%
55%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
2023
2022
2021
2020

Presenteeism increased sharply in 2023
Presenteeism by firm size, 2020 to 2023 Presenteeism by size and sector, 2023
37%
21%
17%
33%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
2023
2022
2021
2020
39%
41%
32%
35%
27%
37%
43%
46%
39%
32%
37%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%
Other services
Business Services
Hospitality
Wholesale, retail
Construction
Production
250 plus
50-249
20-49
10-19
All firms

Presenteeism increased sharply in 2023
Type of presenteeism, all firms, 2020 to 2023 Reasons for presenteeism, all firms, 2020 to 2023
8%
60%
79%
13%
55%
71%
15%
33%
72%
0%
62%
69%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
Working when they should be self-
isolating
Working when they are unwell
Working beyond contracted hours
2020 2021 2022 2023
15%
23%
18%
34%
15%
25%
30%
26%
9%
15%
21%
25%
15%
24%
15%
36%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
Always worked like that here – part
of our culture
They want or need (extra)
hours/money
Short staffed
Need to meet deadlines/client
demand
2020 2021 2022 2023

Most employers acknowledge they have
responsibility to address workplace mental health …
Proportion of employers in 2023 that disagree with the statement ‘mental health is a personal issue and not one which
should be addressed at work’
91%
83%
72%
79%
74%
72%
86%
82%
81%
77%
79%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Other services
Business Services
Hospitality
Wholesale, retail
Construction
Production
250 plus
50-249
20-49
10-19
All firms

Proportion of all firms with mental
health lead at board level, 2023
…but fewer have formalised their approach
Mental
health lead
at board
level
45%
No mental
health lead
at board
level
55%
Mental
health plan
32%
No mental
health plan
68%
Budget for
MH
activities
18%
No budget
for MH
activities
82%
health budget, 2023
health plan, 2023

Proportion of firms with strategic initiatives, all firms, 2020 to 2023
Slow progress in adoption of strategic mental health
initiatives
18%
40%
42%
45%
32%
17%
37%
43%
43%
31%
14%
40%
42%
42%
27%
14%
31%
40%
36%
22%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%
A budget for mental health and wellbeing
activities
In-house mental health support and
signposting to other services.
Use data to monitor employee health and
wellbeing
A health and wellbeing lead at Board or
Senior level
A mental health plan
2020 2021 2022 2023

Uptake of mental health initiatives static
Firms offering MH initiatives, all firms, 2020 to 2023 Firms offering MH initiatives, by size and sector, 2023
52%
51%
52%
44%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
2023
2022
2021
2020
67%
56%
50%
37%
40%
48%
86%
64%
58%
42%
52%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Other services
Business Services
Hospitality
Wholesale, retail
Construction
Production
250 plus
50-249
20-49
10-19
All firms

Stubborn proportion of firms not engaged with
initiatives
Firms’ intentions re: MH initiatives, all firms, 2023
8%
16%
21%
23%
24%
24%
0%
9%
17%
22%
18%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%
Other services
Business Services
Hospitality
Wholesale, retail
Construction
Production
250 plus
50-249
20-49
10-19
All firms
Yes currently
52%
No but would if
needed
28%
Don't know
2%
No and won't
18%
Firms that have not adopted, and will not adopt, MH
initiatives, by size and sector, 2023

Strong reliance on no-cost practices
Proportion of firms offering initiatives adopting each practice, all firms, 2020 to 2023
44%
62%
66%
74%
95%
37%
53%
64%
72%
95%
38%
46%
68%
72%
95%
34%
48%
59%
65%
94%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Have employee mental health champions
Training for line managers in managing mental
health
Risk assessment/stress audits
Awareness raising for staff on mental health issues
Encourage open conversations about mental health
in the workplace
2020 2021 2022 2023

Evaluation of MH activities
Proportion of employers that evaluate the impact of their MH activities, all firms, 2023
57%
43%
46%
36%
46%
37%
53%
38%
41%
33%
42%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
250 plus
50-249
20-49
10-19
Other services
Business Services
Hospitality
Wholesale, retail
Construction
Production
All firms

Evaluation of MH activities
Reported impacts of MH activities, all firms, 2020 to 2023
66%
65%
63%
75%
75%
62%
61%
57%
69%
68%
56%
56%
54%
65%
65%
50%
49%
46%
57%
57%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
Improved business performance
Reduced work related stress/mental ill
health absence
Improved staff retention/reduced staff
turnover
Improved job satisfaction levels
Improved mental health & stress mgt
2020 2021 2022 2023

COVID-19 working practices legacy
Proportion of firms with remote working, all firms, 2023
Yes, have
always
11%
Yes, since
COVID
16%
No
73% 8%
18%
2%
12%
9%
14%
10%
36%
1%
15%
11%
19%
82%
45%
96%
72%
80%
67%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Other services
Business Services
Hospitality
Wholesale, retail
Construction
Production
Yes, have always Yes, since COVID No Don’t know
Proportion of firms with remote working, by sector, 2023

Reported effects of remote working, all firms, 2023
10%
13%
28%
35%
36%
47%
50%
59%
70%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
Struggle because of lack of digital skills
Less productive
Fewer mental health problems
Frustrated by technical difficulties
Reduces employee attachment to firm
Struggle due to lack of interaction
More difficult to manage staff
Teamworking more difficult
Staff are happier

Proportion of firms with remote working that agree
they encourage a work life balance, all firms, 2023
Agree
79%
Neither agree
nor disagree
16%
Disagree
5%
44%
67%
70%
72%
76%
88%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Time sheets or other tracking method
Company-wide communications, e.g.,
from HR department
Regular formal
conversations/reminders from line…
Role modelling behaviour from
managers
Encouraging employees not to answer
email outside working hours
Regular informal
conversations/reminders from line…
How firms encourage a work life balance, all firms,
2023

Conclusions
• Mental health issues continue to make an impact on Midlands firms, but the nature of the
impact is evolving: absence is fairly static and more firms are feeling the impacts, but
presenteeism is up
• Most employers recognise their responsibility to address mental health issues but
considerably fewer currently build this into their strategic approach
• Slow growth in uptake of mental health initiatives (52% of firms in 2023) and a stubborn
proportion of non-adopters
• Continued reliance on no-cost practices, although increased levels of training for line
managers is encouraging
• Mental health practices, when adopted, deliver real benefits!
• Covid-19 working practices legacy may require new initiatives

What does this all mean for policy and practice?
Driving up the proportion of employers offering mental health initiatives:
• Financial support, or tax breaks/incentives
• Employer-to-employer support and learning
• Certification/beacon status
Reaching the stubborn non-adopters:
• Tailored focus on smallest businesses and key sectors, acknowledging resource constraints
Focus on specific key initiatives:
• Improving training for line managers and others
Future research priorities:
• Interrogate sectoral differences
• Impact of hybrid working on mental health
• Clarity around dynamics underpinning the sharp rise in presenteeism

Workplace Climate for Mental Health
Dr Juliet Hassard
Reader HRM/ OB
QMS Director of Postgraduate Research

Understanding the link between work and
health
Poorly
managed work
characteristic
Individual
Differences &
Coping
Health and
wellbeing
consequences
Repair
damage
Bolster
coping and
resiliency
(Re) design
jobs and
working
systems
Workplace climate

• Work climate, also known as organizational climate, refers to the
overall atmosphere or environment of a workplace.
• It is employee’s long-lasting perception of the working
environment and culture of the business they work for.
Workplace Climate

Workplace climate and employee health
• Evidence base looking at the link between workplace safety climate
and employee safety behaviours and performance (e.g. Clarke, 2006).
• Systematic review of intervention targeting the improvement of
workplace safety climate demonstrate value (Lee et aal., 2019)
• But what about mental health?
Clarke, S. (2006). The relationship between safety climate and safety performance: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Occupational
Health Psychology, 11(4), 315–327. https://doi.org/10.1037/1076-8998.11.4.315
Lee, J., Huang, Y.-h., Cheung, J. H., Chen, Z., & Shaw, W. S. (2019). A systematic review of the safety climate intervention literature:
Past trends and future directions. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 24(1), 66–91. https://doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000113

Workplace Safety Climate &
Safety Compliance and Behaviours
• Evidence of the link between workplace safety climate and employee safety behaviours
and performance (e.g. Clarke, 2006).
• Systematic review of interventions targeting the improvement of workplace safety
climate demonstrate value in improving employee behaviours and safety compliance
(Lee et al., 2019).
• But what about mental health?

Psychosocial Safety Climate
• The workplace climate for employee psychological health and safety: psychosocial safety climate (PSC;
Dollard & Bakker, 2010).
• Shared perceptions by employees of their organisation’s “systems, policies, practices and procedures for the protection of worker
psychological health and safety”.
• PSC largely reflects management values regarding the psychological health and safety of their workers
(Dollard, 2019).
Dollard, M. F., & Bakker, A. B. (2010). Psychosocial safety climate as a precursor to conducive work environments, psychological
health problems, and employee engagement. Journal of occupational and organizational psychology, 83(3), 579-599.
Dollard, M. F., Dormann, C., & Idris, M. A. (2019). Psychosocial safety climate: A new work stress theory and implications for
method (pp. 3-30). Springer International Publishing.

Psychosocial Safety Climate: 4 key dimensions
1) Senior management commitment and support for stress prevention.
2) Priority given by management to psychological health and safety versus productivity goals.
3) Good upwards and downwards organisational communication in relation to psychological health
and safety at work.
4) High levels of participation and involvement by both managers and workers in relation to
psychological health and safety

Psychosocial Safety Climate:
Barometer for Mental Health at Work
Bailey et al., 2015; Dormann et al., 2017

Psychosocial Safety Climate and UK
• First survey in the UK to explore the link between PSC and employee mental health and productivity.
• 100 enterprises to participate in the survey.
• Online survey (10 minutes to complete)
• Semi-structured interviews
• Follow for over a year.
• Participating organisations will be provided with a short report on their workplace climate for mental
health and employee wellbeing and motivation.

Psychosocial Safety Climate and UK
• 1st survey in the UK to explore the link between PSC and employee mental health and productivity.
• Recruiting 100 enterprises to participate in the survey.
• Online survey (10 minutes to complete)
• Semi-structured interviews
• Follow for over a year.
• Participating organisations will be provided with a unique summary report on their workplace climate for
mental health and employee wellbeing and motivation.

Implication of our research
• Understand the how workplace climate influences both the work
environment and employee mental health and productivity.
• Contributing to a global observatory.
• Validate a British barometer for workplace climate and mental health.
• Validate a short practical tool for organisations to use to measure their
workplace climate for mental health and to inform workplace
interventions.

Interested to take part or support?
• Would your company like to participate in this exciting ground-
breaking study?
• Do you know of any companies that would be interested to
participate?
• Please get in contact for more details and how to get invovled.
• Dr Juliet Hassard: j.hassard@qub.ac.uk
• Dr Craig Bartle: craig.bartle1@nottingham.ac.uk

Dr Louise Thomson
Lessons from Managing
Minds at Work
Implementing
Mental Health
Interventions

“the dynamic process of
adapting the program to the
context of action while
maintaining the intervention's
core principles”
Herrera-Sánchez et al., (2017)
Frontiers in Psychology
Effective implementation is helped
by….
 Continuity and adaptations
 Clear delivery structures, careful
scheduling and effective
governance
 Support from senior leaders and
managers
 Credibility
Daniels et al (2021) Social Science and
Medicine
Yarker et al, (2022) Social Science and
Medicine – Mental Health
43
What is
implementation?

Aimed to
 develop evidence-based online training for Line Managers (LMs)
focused on prevention
 test its acceptability, usability and assess effectiveness in improving:
 LM’s confidence, knowledge, behaviours
 Direct reports’ well-being and sickness absence.
 explore the factors affecting the implementation in the workplace
Piloted in 24 organisations with 141 LMs
Funded by Mental Health and Productivity Pilot
44
The Managing Minds at Work Study

45
5 Modules
1. Self-care
2. Designing work to promote well-being
3. Competencies to prevent stress
4. Creating a psychologically safe
workplace
5. Having conversations about mental
health
26 May 2023
45
Stand-alone modules hosted online
30 minutes per module
One completed each week
Interaction, reflection, resources
Co-created with experts and users
The Intervention

 To explore the experience of
the intervention with LMs and
other stakeholders
 Assess the acceptability,
usability and utility of the
intervention
 To identify barriers and
facilitators to effective
implementation.
46
Qualitative Interviews with:
 16 Line Managers
 4 Stakeholders
Process Evaluation

Content
 Technical terminology
 Specific examples
Delivery
 Tracking of progress
 Access on different devices
Organisational setting
 More engagement/integration
 More reflection time
 Lack of time/high workload
48
Content
 Practical skills and
confidence (e.g.
conversations)
Delivery
 Benefits of self-led learning
Organisational Setting
 Support and encouragement
from senior managers
Facilitators Barriers

50
• Refining and adapting the MMW training based on
feedback and further stakeholder engagement
• Developing Managing Minds Plus – a programme
of facilitated activities alongside the online training
• Exploring how MMW can be implemented to
ensure integration with other strategies, policies
etc and maximise effectiveness
MHPP 2.0

51
Managing Minds at Work Plus
Online Modules Facilitated
Group Sessions
Practical
workshops
Peer-led
Discussion
forums

To find out more, please visit:
https://www.enterpriseresearch.ac.uk/esrc-mental-health-
well-being-practices-outcomes-productivity-project/

Mental health and well-being practices, outcomes and productivity Research Showcase

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