The Hidden Costs of Mental Health Issues in the Workplace

Mental health issues can be a major concern in the workplace, as they can have a significant impact on employee productivity, absenteeism, and turnover. Dr Vasudha Agarwal, Clinical Director, United We Care, says, “Mental health issues are a pressing concern for employers, as the poor mental health of employees results in a high cost to employers. The absence of a positive work environment and mental health services that focus on the well-being of the employees results in high turnover rates in businesses and an increase in costs associated with recruiting and training new employees.” Hariom Seth, Founder, FindInc, says “When employees are struggling with mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, or other related conditions, it can affect their ability to perform at work, leading to decreased productivity and potentially even increased absenteeism. Moreover, when employees feel unsupported in dealing with their mental health concerns, it can lead to increased turnover rates, as they may seek employment elsewhere.” Impact of mental health issues at work Arushi Sethi, co-founder and CEO, Trijog, says, “An alarming, hidden and murderous weapon that’s how I’d term the cost of mental health concerns to corporate India. The non-existent, insufficient proactive investment and ignorance of empanelling mental health as a cornerstone of company culture and not providing its benefits for our co-workers amounts to: Employee value suppression: When our people are not heard, when people are not given a safe space to communicate and process their feelings, where there is no professional confidential counseling support provided or empowerment in additional ways for eg: Mental health paid leaves, Wellness zones, Mental health check-ins, group training from the top down, – an automatic correlated drop will be overserved in an employee’s performance bringing in a major gap in motivation – in turn leading to a loss in output which defines productivity – which then leads to an unsatisfactory output directly affecting your balance sheet.