ROUND-UP NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019
In Depth 66%
Fast facts: Mental health at work
of UK workers
suffer from poor
mental health
91%
of managers say
mental health
has a stigma
42%
of managers have
been trained on
mental health
Survey reveals poor mental health
attitudes amongst UK managers
Over half (51%) of senior managers
in British firms admit that they
consider an employee with a
mental illness to be a ‘liability’, with 65%
saying they think talking about mental
health at work shows weakness, according
to a study of 2,000 British workers and
200 senior managers, conducted by
mental health experts TalkOut.
The study found that one in ten (11%)
senior managers confess that an employee
talking to them about their mental health
would make them feel uncomfortable.
A fifth admit they have felt in the past
that a member of staff who claimed to
be mentally unwell was only saying so
because they weren’t good at their job,
21% that they were using it as an excuse
to explain away poor work, and 17%
had thought that the worker in question
wasn’t mentally unwell, just lazy.
The attitudes of workers themselves
reflect this, according to the study, as
two-thirds of Brits say they have suffered
mental health issues that directly affected
them at work. However, only 35% felt
supported by their employers.
This is reinforced by the fact that 84%
of senior managers saying that employees
risk missing out on promotions if they
admit to having mental health issues to
their bosses, and 91% admitting there
was still a lot of stigma around mental
health in the workplace.
Only 42% of senior managers had
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been trained on how to talk to staff about
mental health issues, with just three in ten
saying that mental health was currently
taken seriously in their business.
“The findings from our research
are really quite shocking and clearly
demonstrate that not enough is being
done within the workplace to reduce the
long-standing stigma and discrimination
around mental health,” said Jill Mead,
MD of TalkOut. “If we’re going to make
any progress, mental health needs to
stop being seen as a taboo, particularly
in professional environments ... HR
managers and business leaders must
take responsibility of ensuring their
organisation has a mentally healthy
environment where people can talk
about mental health in the same way
they talk about physical health – without
fear of consequences.”
The survey wasn’t all negative,
however: 96% of those surveyed said
they thought their staff’s mental health
was as important as their physical health,
and 94% believe a mentally healthy
workforce is a more productive one.
Manufacturing output
falls further in Q3
Manufacturing output continued to fall
in the quarter to October, driven largely
by a significant decline in the motor
vehicles and transport equipment
sub-sector, according to the CBI’s latest
quarterly Industrial Trends Survey.
The survey of 258 manufacturing
firms also showed that prospects for the
following quarter are downbeat, with
firms anticipating output to deteriorate
at a slightly faster rate in the three
months to January.
Business optimism has taken a
significant hit, falling at the fastest pace
since July 2016, and optimism about
exports for the year ahead deteriorated
to the greatest extent in 18 years.
Investment intentions have also
worsened, with plans to spend on
buildings, plant & machinery and
training & retraining at their most
negative since the financial crisis.
Brexit uncertainty weighed heavily
on export prospects, with the
proportion of firms citing political/
economic conditions abroad as a factor
limiting exports over the next quarter
hitting a survey record high. Additionally,
the share of firms citing quota and
license restrictions as a factor limiting
exports was at its highest since 1983.
While new orders fell at largely the
same pace as the previous quarter, firms
expect them to fall at a faster pace in
the three months to January.
Quarterly headcount was down,
falling at its fastest since April 2010,
with firms anticipating an even sharper
decline the following quarter – with
expectations at their lowest since the
financial crisis.
“This quarter’s findings paint a
worrying picture for the manufacturing
industry,” said Rain Newton-Smith, CBI
chief economist. “A combination of
Brexit uncertainty and weaker global
growth are clearly hitting sentiment
and export prospects, with job
prospects at their weakest since the
global financial crisis.”
10 www.manufacturingmanagement.co.uk
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