How can HR and OH collaborate to improve mental health and wellbeing at work?
Research from the Society of Occupational Health and CIPD explores the evidence
Research from the Society of Occupational Health and CIPD explores the evidence
Mental health and wellbeing has been a growing concern for many employers over the past few years and a key priority for people professionals. The CIPD 2023 Health and wellbeing at work report supported by Simplyhealth, found that 91% of organisations’ wellbeing activity focuses on mental health to a large or moderate extent, and over three-quarters (78%) are taking steps to identify and reduce stress.
The fact that many workplaces are taking an organisational approach, combining a range of methods to support mental health, is encouraging. However, we need a rebalance of where and how organisations are focusing their efforts. The use of mental health first aid training has increased substantially over the past six years and is now the second most used approach. And yet just 43% train line managers to support people with mental health and even fewer (25%), opt for greater involvement of occupational health (OH) specialists.
As the new policy paper The value of occupational health and human resources in supporting mental health and wellbeing in the workplace published by the Society of Occupational Health and CIPD and written by Dr Kevin Teoh makes clear, improving mental health outcomes for workers requires a systematic approach to address the main health risks, accompanied by the implementation of evidence-based interventions.
The policy paper highlights the wellbeing industry that has developed to support organisations’ increased focus on health and wellbeing. However, as a mostly unregulated area, products and services do not always reflect a robust evidence base, ‘making it difficult for well-intentioned organisations to navigate this space effectively.’
The paper uses a three-level framework to map interventions to support mental health and wellbeing:
The evidence generally shows that interventions which focus on the primary level tend to have stronger effects than those that solely focus on individual level (secondary and tertiary). For example, one influential study showed that, in contrast to the benign wellbeing impact of interventions focused on the individual, working conditions such as having the right training, being consulted on change, fair pay, fair promotions, flexible work, and good collaboration were all associated with better wellbeing.
The paper provides a summary of the research evidence relating to six popular wellbeing activities:
While most of these interventions are individually focused, there is some evidence that “they can work in specific circumstances or for specific outcomes”. For example, “there is plenty of evidence supporting the effectiveness of line manager training, but only where this is set within an evidence-based framework, where the training is accompanied by further and ongoing support for line managers, and where the training extends beyond identifying team members who are struggling to also consider creating healthy working environments”. The evidence relating to mental health first aid links to raising awareness and reducing stigma, thus underlining the need for employers to develop an organisational framework.
To support organisations to take an evidence-based approach, the paper offers three contemporary frameworks to manage employee mental health and wellbeing:
These systematic and holistic frameworks draw on the relevant research evidence on how best to manage workplace mental health and have been developed by relevant subject-matter experts and bodies, in collaboration with employer groups and trade unions. They also reflect all three levels (primary, secondary and tertiary) as part of a holistic approach to support mental health and wellbeing.
The policy paper says it remains the case that many organisations are still unclear about the role that HR and OH have in relation to managing workplace mental health and wellbeing, the value that they bring, and how best to work together.
HR and OH practitioners are the two professional groups most concerned with the health and wellbeing of people at work. As such, the strength of the working relationship between the two is critical, and it’s time to evaluate whether a fuller appreciation of each profession’s role by the other could encourage stronger collaboration, to achieve the mutual aim of a more strategic and preventative approach to employee health and wellbeing.
From HR’s perspective, we also need to consider how we can benefit more from the valuable specialist knowledge that OH offers. CIPD research consistently shows that employers and HR professionals view OH services as a valuable resource to manage employee health at work, with access to OH services identified as one of the most common and effective interventions for managing sickness absence. For example, the 2023 CIPD Health and wellbeing at work report supported by Simplyhealth, finds:
However, the prevalent view of OH is as a reactive referral service for long-term sickness absence rather than a specialist and valuable resource to develop a strategic and preventative approach to employee health. For example, 2020 CIPD research found that:
These findings suggest that many employers, and HR professionals, tend to view OH predominantly as a referral service, to deal with complex cases of sickness absence when ill health issues have already escalated. There could be clear benefits from involving OH in health-related issues at an earlier stage where appropriate, for example identifying main health risks, ill health prevention, developing strategy and policy for workplace health interventions, effective reasonable adjustments, developing guidance for line managers.
The policy paper notes that the rapidly evolving world of work presents new risks, challenges, and issues for workers’ health that OH and HR practitioners may struggle to keep up with. With this in mind, it recommends HR and OH practitioners:
You can download the policy paper from the Society of Occupational Medicine website or access the CIPD’s range of wellbeing and mental health resources on our wellbeing resources page.
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Rachel Suff joined the CIPD as a policy adviser in 2014 to increase the CIPD’s public policy profile and engage with politicians, civil servants, policy-makers and commentators to champion better work and working lives. An important part of her role is to ensure that the views of the profession inform CIPD policy thinking on issues such as health and wellbeing, employee engagement and employment relations. As well as conducting research on UK employment issues, she helps guide the CIPD’s thinking in relation to European developments affecting the world of work. Rachel’s prior roles include working as a researcher for XpertHR and as a senior policy adviser at Acas.
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