At any moment, over 35% of people in Hong Kong (HK) are suffering at work with symptoms of a mental health condition. The 2019 study by Oliver Wyman and the City Mental Health Alliance (CMHA)HK identified that HK workers are not comfortable to talk about mental health issues, they have rarely received any training related to mental health issues and many continued to work knowing they were performing below their capacity.
It’s not a shock to learn that people who ignore mental health problems are three times more likely to take a long-term sickness absence, and that’s a clear problem for businesses. A 2017 report by Deloitte states that, if an employee leaves their employer due to mental health-related reasons, the cost to the employer is significant as they need to find a replacement, lose valuable professional experience and they need to provide new training. The 2019 study by Oliver Wyman and CMHA estimated the cost of mental health-related turnover in HK is around 5 – 12Bn HKD per year.
The most successful employers in the public, private and non-profit sectors have introduced a positive culture around mental health at work. Not only does it help their people, it also improves their organisation’s performance.
Having good mental health is important to your business as it creates a pleasant working environment and therefore attracts a higher calibre of worker. This results in employees being better motivated and performing tasks to a higher standard. There will be less sick-days and your reputation as a business will be enhanced when it is known you ‘look after’ your employees.