How much of your staff has been affected by mental health issues?

Nearly all of your employees have been affected by mental health challenges.

This is according to an Accenture survey in partnership with the workplace mental health conference ‘This Can Happen’ taking place on the 25th November. It found that 92 per cent of employees have been touched by mental health challenges.

Younger workers are more likely to have suffered from mental health challenges than their senior colleagues and nearly half (48 per cent) of younger workers have experienced suicidal thoughts compared to 35 per cent of older workers.

Younger workers also find it harder to speak about these issues, 45 per cent of them hold back as they do not know how to express how they feel, in contrast to 22 per cent of older workers. They also feel more pressure in their lives than older colleagues.

Accenture did find that when businesses create a supportive, open culture around mental health it makes a sizeable difference to how employees feel and their ability to “thrive”.

Barbara Harvey, managing director and mental health lead for Accenture UK, said:

It’s clear that many young people face challenges with their mental health before they enter the workforce and while working, and that they are affected more often than their senior peers. Therefore, mental health must be a priority issue for employers. Businesses need to look at how they can create an open, supportive work environment which enables employees of all ages to look after their mental health, support one another, and perform at their best.

Zoe Sinclair, co-founder of This Can Happen said:

With this survey we hope that many employers will examine their recruitment, induction and management styles to support younger members of their workforce. Undertaking large scale insightful research programmes that highlight the challenges faced by those entering the workforce is an integral part of what This Can Happen and Accenture are working towards.

In order to put these results together, Accenture asked 3,884 UK employees aged 18-30 and over 40.

 

 

 

 

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Darius McQuaid

Darius is the editor of HRreview. He has previously worked as a finance reporter for the Daily Express. He studied his journalism masters at Press Association Training and graduated from the University of York with a degree in History.