Many things influence the performance of individuals at work. Some of those influences may be work related, but many can be affected by external factors at home; the pressures of caring for family, bereavement, relationships issues, debt, sickness and much more. Whatever the situation, it is essential that employees are supported by an employer that understands, and is prepared to do what it takes to support, their employees’ mental health.

Sick staff cost the UK economy £77.5bn a year

Britain’s 2017 Healthiest Workplace Survey took 32,000 individuals across a variety of business sectors and found that sick staff cost the UK economy £77.5 billion a year. It also showed that employees lose, on average, 30 working days a year due to sickness or illness-related underperformance. So, even if employees make it to work, this equates to each employee losing six working weeks of productivity a year. That’s an incredible statistic.

More than ever, good employers are recognising the need to support their employees’ mental, emotional and physical wellbeing. This enables them to retain their best staff and attract new talent to join them. A strong mind is at the heart of well-being. A strong mind can create anything it focuses on, but a weak one is at the mercy of every challenge it faces. We all need to learn how to manage our thoughts, and therefore our emotional state, if we are to perform at our best and achieve what we set out to.

A survey by Mind of 44,000 employees showed that 48% had experienced poor mental health, but only half had spoken to their employer. One in four workers is thought to struggle in silence with anxiety, stress or low mood, and this is costing the UK employer between £33 and £42 billion a year. Very few people like to feel vulnerable and, often, they avoid speaking up because they don’t want to appear weak.

So what is the solution?

It’s time we stopped looking at mental health from a place of ‘solving issues’ or ‘problems’ and saw it for what it really needs to be – ‘mental strength’. When we want to run a marathon we get fit, and life is a ‘marathon, not a sprint’.

Many personal development books talk about the power of your thoughts and how, by changing your beliefs, you can literally change your life. Books like ‘Think & Grow Rich’ by Napoleon Hill, ‘The Power of Positive Thinking’ by Norman Vincent Peale, ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ by Steven R. Covey, ‘The Power of Now’ by Eckhart Tolle, ‘The Richest Man in Babylon’ by George Samuel Clason, and ‘Change Your Thoughts – Change Your Life’ by Dr Wayne W. Dyer. Try giving one or two of them a read.

The message is a simple one; take control of what you think and you can change your life. Personal growth requires mental resilience, so it is essential that we understand exactly how to get mentally fit if we are to be mentally strong and get the results we want.