Mental health conditions present substantial costs to organisations. This report shows the return on investment (ROI) and benefits that can be realised by organisations that take action to improve workplace mental health. The report outlines the technical background to the ROI analysis for creating a mentally healthy workplace, with the aim of estimating the ROI for employers investing in a mentally healthy workplace. Accordingly, the analysis: estimates the cost to employers of mental health conditions; and estimates the costs and the ROI for implementing workplace mental health actions using
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Mental health conditions present substantial costs to organisations. This report shows the return on investment (ROI) and benefits that can be realised by organisations that take action to improve workplace mental health. The report outlines the technical background to the ROI analysis for creating a mentally healthy workplace, with the aim of estimating the ROI for employers investing in a mentally healthy workplace. Accordingly, the analysis: estimates the cost to employers of mental health conditions; and estimates the costs and the ROI for implementing workplace mental health actions using an economic model and simulating different scenarios based on the workplace environment (scenarios for actions are detailed in an appendix).
The analysis of the ROI is achieved by comparing research on mental health actions with proven benefits for the workplace with information about the cost of implementing a given action within an organisation. The actions selected for this analysis span prevention, early intervention and rehabilitation/return to work and reflect a broader range of actions available to organisations. These seven actions selected as a basis for this analysis were: (1) worksite physical activity programs; (2) coaching and mentoring programs; (3) mental health first aid and education; (4) resilience training; (5) [competency based training] CBT based return-to-work programs; (6) well-being checks or health screenings; and (7) encouraging employee involvement. This analysis shows that an investment into mental health in the workplace gives rise to a number of benefits to organisations, people with mental health conditions, co-workers, and clients. Through the successful implementation of an effective action to create a mentally healthy workplace, organisations, on average, can expect a positive ROI of 2.3. That is, for every dollar spent on successfully implementing an appropriate action, there is on average 2.30 dollars in benefits to be gained by the organisation.
Edited excerpts from publication.
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