Why Mental Health First Aid Lacks Impact

It’s time for businesses to move from mental health awareness towards mental health action. While there’s no doubt increasing awareness about mental health plays a role in reducing stigma, it doesn’t do much to move the needle for those affected.

Poor mental health is costing UK employers £56 billion each year, and that’s grown by 25% since 2019 – with lockdowns likely playing a role in this.

Since the pandemic, 8 in 10 workplaces have increased their focus on employee mental health. This sounds great in principle, but I’d argue most of this is focused on reactive measures, like employee assistance programs or mental health first aid. But this is too little too late.

Should businesses have mental health first aid?

When I speak with businesses about their approach to mental health support in the workplace, many leaders talk about mental health first aid programmes. More than 20,000 businesses in the UK have implemented mental health first aid training, with 77,000 certified first aiders across the nation.

By definition, first aid is treatment that kicks in after the crisis has occurred. Mental health first aid is like putting a bandaid on a cut that would be better treated with stitches. It’s a temporary measure to help stop the flow – but it won’t hold for long and does nothing to address the cause or prevent future injuries. And it’s the same for mental health.

While support for staff in crisis is a worthy workplace measure, it shouldn’t stop – or start – there. Too many companies are giving themselves a pat on the back for offering this, but aren’t taking preventative action to help curb the number of employees getting to the point they need mental health first aid. Training up a mental health first aider as the extent of your mental health policy is the bare minimum effort from businesses.

What’s the best approach for business mental health support?

There’s no one size fits all approach when it comes to mental health policy in the workplace – but a good place to start is shifting the mindset from supporting in a crisis to taking proactive action.

I’ve worked with tonnes of businesses, from Huel and Depop to Spotify and Google, to help shape their mental health policies and practices. We equip them with everything they need to support their people in the best way possible – and that looks different for every organisation. It spans psychoeducation, such as workshops and leadership training, right through to 1:1 sessions with one of Self Space’s accredited therapists for employees.

But what links these initiatives is that they aren’t rolled out only when an individual employee needs extra help. They’re available to all employees, and in most cases, the support is year-round. Workshops and training normalise the complex reality of being human, and the challenges that often come with this, by proactively talking about mental health.

But the buck doesn’t stop with staff benefits. Businesses need to evaluate their wellbeing policies and uncover what action is actually being taken. Does the reality of the culture match the values outlined in the company’s mission statement or handbook? Does the team actually feel comfortable making use of the flexible working policy available to them? Do your people feel comfortable asking for the adjustments, training or upskilling they need to do their job well? And do managers actually have the skills to support their teams through any challenges and have difficult conversations well?

Much of this is driven from the top-down. If leaders aren’t embodying the culture and advocating for the tangible implementation of the policies outlined, this will not trickle down to the rest of the team.

There might be a policy offering flexible working and a belief that the culture encourages a great work/life balance, but if leaders are staying late and skipping lunch breaks every day, this affects uptake of these policies from the wider team. To build trust amongst their team and move the dial on mental health in the workplace, business leaders need to stop talking the talk and start walking the walk.

What are the business benefits of mental health policies at work?

It’s no secret that there’s commercial benefits to businesses when they have a well-implemented mental health policy. The benefits are tangible and numerous, and they transverse everything from increases in productivity to decreases in attrition.

For example, one report suggests that for every £1 spent on mental health in the workplace, employers recoup £5.30 from reductions in staff absence and turnover. Another argues that “happy” employees are 20% more productive. And new research from Gympass revealed 93% of UK employees say wellbeing at work is more important to them than salary.

But in 2023, do we really need to link the benefits of avoiding an unhappy or struggling workforce to the financial output of a business?

There are plenty of metrics I could provide about the positive impacts of my own work with corporate partners, but at the end of the day, business leaders should invest in their people because we’re all human.

At Self Space, we only work with corporate partners who want to improve the quality of their team’s lives – not because it makes good business sense (and dollars and cents), but because they truly value the people in their teams.

We don’t work with companies who are simply looking for a plaster for a negative culture or a mental health tick box exercise. We collaborate with brands who want to move away from pretty LinkedIn posts and a free cup of coffee on an awareness day, and instead are striving to provide genuine support to their teams and promote everyday mental maintenance. We work with the leaders who get that being a human is complex, and often messy, and want to help their teams navigate that with kindness, compassion and practical support.

The importance of looking beyond the stigma

Never before have we had more ‘therapy-speak’ at our disposal – but for all our talk about boundaries, anxiety and attachment styles, it’s important to remember that there are people amongst our workforce that have diagnosable mental health conditions that they live with on an ongoing basis.

And these people are assets to the workplace too. They are capable of smashing it at work, just as much as the next person. And they often have a resilience others don’t have in the same way.

Mental health is not fixed – it exists on a continuum, whether someone is living with a diagnosable condition or not. Sometimes we’re in good mental health and are thriving, and other times we’re struggling. This might be situational, seasonal or the nature of their condition, if they have one. But ultimately, it’s part and parcel of being human.

For employers supporting people with their mental health, diagnosed condition or otherwise, it’s important to remember there’s a person behind the label. Make reasonable adjustments and support them with kindness and compassion when things are tough. Instead of noticing something and being afraid to address it because you’re worried about saying the wrong thing, have the difficult conversation and ask how you can help. Be real, be human. And move beyond awareness and into action. Show up for your employees, embrace their beautifully flawed human nature, and take tangible actions that show your team you value them – not because it makes financial sense, but because it’s the human thing to do.

Why mental health first aid is too little too late