Mental health is an ongoing subject in our society today. We understand it’s effect on a person and their well being and the impact it has on everyday life but do you know how it affects your business and should you care?
Research done 7 years ago in Norway, found that it costs an average of £ 8.000 when a employee gets divorced. This was only calculated on the sick leave cost not adding the loss of productivity during the actual divorce period. Latest figures show that in the UK alone each year 105 million working days are lost to mental health issues and the cost is a staggering £ 1.24 billion.
Should you care about these facts as a leader or business owner?
One important thing, that you should care about, is that the latest research shows that happy people tend to be more successful and more productive. For example, during my years in coaching, I have seen many leaders achieve more when they have started to focus on making their marriage and family lead more loving and happy lives. So I have seen that success is a bi-product of living a happy life, both in family life and at work – the two go hand in hand.
What can you start doing as a company? There are many things you can do, first of all you can start to acknowledge that you don’t only employ a ‘CV’ but you actually employ a person with a family, a wife/husband, children, successes and failures. Then start to see what you can do to make a happy and joyful work environment.
One of the most important things are relationships, so how can you as a leader and business owner facilitate a working atmosphere that is relationship focused? It can look very different depending on the type of workplace.
You can offer coaching to your employees, helping them if they have relationship problems at home. You can also create a fun and joyful atmosphere where everyone encourages each other and acknowledges one teammate every day for a job well done. You can also recognise that even just a smile makes people happy. If the leader is smiling, and being positive, employees will feel relaxed and so communicate more and worry less about making mistakes ultimately learning more.
Are you ready to make your company more successful?
Drop me a message or comment – on how you see your company tackling these issues or if you need some input on how to develop a happy and joyful workplace that leads you to success.
Johan Odén
Live better – Lead Better
