Blog: The business case for tackling mental health stigma at work

Bryony Mole, See Me’s project officer for workplaces, reflects on the importance of investing in anti-stigma initiatives for employers. 

More and more employers across Scotland are raising their game and making concrete plans to address mental health stigma within their organisation. 

Not just because it’s the right thing to do – but because it makes good business sense. 

Mental health stigma can be a huge barrier for individuals in the workplace, even ending careers that people have worked hard for.  

The Scottish Mental Illness Stigma Study, produced by See Me and the Mental Health Foundation in 2022, found that almost three-quarters of Scots with experience of mental illness (74 per cent) expect to be treated unfairly at work. 

This expectation can come from a range of sources – negative past experiences at work, the public stigma that surrounds mental health and mental illness, and self-stigma all play their part.  

As a result, people with experience of mental illness and more common mental health problems are keeping their experiences private, not asking for help when they need it, or withdrawing from the workplace altogether. Workplaces often have excellent support services in place, like programmes of wellbeing support, employee assistance programmes and mental health first aiders. However, stigma surrounding mental health can prevent people from coming forward to discuss the support they might need, meaning the support services often aren’t used and employees miss out on help. 

All of this has an impact on workplaces – on their reputation, their staffing levels, access to talent, and ultimately their bottom line. 

So how do we fix it? 

The first step towards a stigma-free workplace is to look at your culture, and what you can do to better support colleagues who experience poor mental health. 

It’s important to think about creating a workplace where everyone can talk freely about their mental health needs, ask for help and get support when needed, and where everyone understands that mental health and physical health are equally as important and they are interlinked.  

This might involve training for colleagues, wellness seminars, and looking at your own policies and practices to ensure people who do disclose mental health problems, or who report being unable to work due to their mental health, feel safe and supported. 

People who experience poor mental health or mental illness are within their rights to request reasonable adjustments – and quite often these don’t need to be costly or disruptive. Flexible working to allow people to skip busy commuting times, home working where possible and providing quiet spaces for staff are all simple to introduce and could make a huge difference. 
 
Workplaces should also create a platform for people with lived experience of mental health conditions to be shared safely.  

Often, colleagues will have their own assumptions and biases which come from the media, family and friends – but by sharing lived experience, we’re able to break down the stereotypes and tackle stigma. This doesn’t just help to raise awareness of mental health conditions, but can help staff experiencing mental ill health to feel less isolated. 

Many employers worry about the financial impact of spending on mental health and wellbeing initiatives at work – but research has shown that this is an investment. Deloitte’s ‘Mental health and employers’ report from 2020 showed that for every £1 spent on mental health, employers are making £5. 

By spending time, effort and money on mental health, you’re cutting back on mental health-related sick days, supporting staff back to work quicker when they do have to take time off for mental health-related reasons, and retaining staff for longer – meaning less time and money spent on recruitment. 

At See Me, we’ve got a host of free resources available online, which can help you make a difference, from e-learning to roll out to your whole organisation to free learning resources for managers to help them open up mental health conversations with their teams.  

Mental health disclosure should never be mandatory – but creating a space where people feel safe to do so can be invaluable for businesses. 

Any one of us could experience poor mental health at any point in our lives. So let’s work together to make sure the world of work is ready to provide the support to help people flourish, whatever’s on their mind.