October is Mental Health Awareness Month and the perfect opportunity for business owners and managers to review therir organisation’s health and wellness strategies.
Mental health costs Australian employers $10.9 billion a year. Absenteeism due to mental health results in $6 million dollars or 12 million days’ productivity lost each year.
The bottom line is, if you’re not investing in workplace health and wellbeing programs, you are losing money.
A recent study by market research firm TNS found a mentally healthy workplace makes employees more committed to their jobs and less likely to seek alternative employment. Half the employees surveyed have left a workplace because of a poor mental health environment. Respondents also claimed a mentally healthy workplace was the second most important factor in their decision to accept a new job.
The impact of physical activity to the performance and productivity of employees has been well documented. A report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare found 96 per cent of working Australians had at least one chronic disease risk factor. Chronic diseases are preventable through healthy lifestyle choices. The economic cost of physical inactivity in terms of lost productivity is estimated at $9.3 billion a year. The bottom line is, if you’re not investing in workplace health and wellbeing programs, you are losing money.