Linked: Three-quarters of employees’ careers impacted by mental health, report finds
These seem like shocking numbers, but maybe we shouldn’t be shocked.
“Three-quarters of employees say their mental health is impacting their career, research reveals, but a third do not expect support at work.
In the survey of 400 UK-based workers at large businesses, carried out by Unmind, 74 per cent said mental health had impacted their career; however, 32 per cent said they did not expect any mental health support at work.
Nearly three in five (59 per cent) also said they found it hard to fit mental health and self-care practices into their day, with almost two in five (37 per cent) noting a lack of time as the reason behind this.”
As I read through the test of the article, which you should also do, one thought kept coming to mind.
During a global pandemic, a climate crisis, a war involving a Russian nuclear power being run by a psychopath, and all the local political mess in the UK right now, how is this number less than 100%?
I think a little anxiety and anger are appropriate now. Being distracted from your work should actually be a pretty normal reaction to what is going on in the world. Just replace your own national politics for the UK in that survey and can you really say that something hasn’t prevented you from being your best at work during the last couple of years? I’m in the US, I think it’s crazy that there are people going about their work as if nothing is happening, but I also know that is the corporate culture for many of us as well. For the hours you are “at” work, that’s our time. Spend your own time worrying about the world, grieving for lost loved ones, caring for your family, or your own needs, etc.
This is wrong on so many levels. Your people are not hours of labor on a spreadsheet, they are human beings, and human beings should absolutely be affected by what is going on in the world. Expecting them not to be during work hours tells me a lot more about the management team than it does about the workforce.
It surely doesn’t say anything good about the management team either.
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