In short - Lack of practical resources.

After speaking to hundreds of people from CEO’s, senior management, and the workforce in general I saw that having ‘someone to talk to’ as a sounding board who can offer practical and memorable solutions as a huge benefit.

Some companies invest hundreds of thousands of pounds in corporate talks around health and wellness…

I also offer that service and have delivered it to companies such as Spotify, Barclays Bank, and Domestic and General.

But a warning…

Talks can be highly valuable, but thats an impersonal ‘one and done’ option.

The employee is still left to navigate the rest of the year on their own, no matter how interesting or motivational a talk was.

Nothing has addressed their own situation.

They go back to their desk and within days or weeks it’s back to the same old issues.

Nobody to talk to who understands their situation and who’s completely independant from the company.

I know CEOs who felt they had nobody to talk to as they are expected to have all the answers.

And yet the middle management, or senior leaders don’t talk to those above them as it might be percieved as a sign of weakness.

Either way, there’s a disconnect which means nobody benefits and the company likely loses revenue through poor staff wellbeing.

Some companies offer a helpline… but, speaking from my research, for most people that’s just not a viable or personal option.

MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AIDERS DO NOT WORK

Other companies offer a Mental Health First Aider, but from my experience of talking to professionals that can actually put people off as they say ‘I dont have a mental health problem, I just want to talk to someone to keep things ticking over’.

In fact MHFA England surveyed 2,000 managers to understand the challenges they face in helping support the wellbeing of their teams in more detail.

• It found a third (33%) of managers were out of their depth supporting their team with mental health concerns.

• That’s because it’s not their job to support the team with any issues like that.

• Over a quarter (29%) of managers said more support and training from their employer would help them to create a team where everyone feels they can bring their whole selves to work.

Lets tie that in with the huge cost to the company when your member of staff, no matter what position they hold, either struggle at work due to stress, work demands, or external factors.

If an employee is still at work but disengaged they are going to be less productive which means less output for the company.

Meaning it’s costing the company money due to the staff member not firing on all cylinders.

And what cost to the team moral when you know one of the team isn’t able to produce the results they are capable of?

As much as some people seem to have forgotten, companies exist to be profitable, otherwise it’s not a company.

So it’s OK to say that priority it getting the results from staff to do the work that generates profits.

And that’s where the ‘Workplace Wellness Gap’ can help.