Happier and healthier employees have been shown to be higher performing, more resilient and mindful, however, there is still a long way to go before physical and mental health achieve parity of acknowledgement and recognition in both the workplace and society more widely. Businesses that care about good mental health and wellbeing attract and keep top talent because they’re attractive places to work

 

It’s widely acknowledged that one in four people in Australia will experience some kind of mental health issue in a given year.

 

But the ignorance, shame and stigma associated with mental illness mean people either don’t recognise what’s happening or are too afraid to ask for help. Too many people are suffering in silence unnecessarily and the cost to Australian business has been estimated by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) as approximately $10.9 billion per year.

 

Overseas experience suggests that staff in organisations are significantly more willing to disclose mental health conditions to other staff who have indicated a willingness to talk, have had some training and who themselves had had mental health challenges.

 

In order to challenging damaging and outdated attitudes towards mental health which perpetuate stigma and stifle talent and productivity in the workplace, the Good to Talk program will help your business identify and train a group of individuals within your organisation and train them to encourage staff members to talk about mental health at work and help them access mental health resources. Similar systems overseas have met with great success.

 

The Good to Talk team, made up of experienced and well known psychologists will identify staff members who themselves have had mental health experiences, screen them and if found suitable will then train them to become Mental Health Advocates within your business.

 

In offering staff this opportunity, businesses around Australia will be demonstrating that mental illness is no barrier to career success – and that there is a recognition that early identification of a problem is associated with a better outcome, long term.

 

Investing in creating a more mentally healthy workplace is beneficial to all staff. As a result, employees will be more engaged, more motivated, morale will be higher and staff will be more willing to go above and beyond the requirements of their role.

 

All of this will add even more to your return on investment and makes for a happier and healthier workplace that will retain good staff. The average return on investment for mental health strategies is 2.3, that is companies receive $2.30 for every dollar spent. That money is returned in increased productivity, reduced absenteeism, reduced presenteeism, reduced workers’ compensation claims, and increased staff retention. In some industries, the ROI is as high as $15 returned for every dollar spent.