Professional Coaching Supports Employee Wellbeing and Mental Health in The Workplace.

Investing in professional coaching is the key to a healthy workplace culture.

Studies show that employees who receive coaching experience higher levels of wellbeing and mental health. It's time to prioritise our health and success with this proven approach.

Professional coaching is growing as a workplace intervention that serves to improve both the productivity and the wellbeing of employees. 

 There is a growing awareness that employee mental health is important to organisations and to recognise its importance. Coaching is a great way employers, leaders and organisations can support employees’ wellbeing and mental health. It is an intervention that highly contributes towards creating conditions needed for people to thrive in the workplace increasing productivity, wellbeing, and developmental growth.

Coaching helps leaders and teams prepare for the future, irrespective of what it may look like, it supports and strengthens relationships, gives them time and space to think, clear the mind, breaks things down to reduce stress and overwhelm and reset perspectives so that they can take a step back to evaluate.

According to the Deloitte UK Mental Health Report (2022), employers who invest in measures and initiatives to tackle mental health problems can expect to see an average return of investment (ROI) of £5.30 for every £1 invested.

Furthermore, they found that Mental ill health costs UK employers approximately £56 billion each year. That’s broken down into:

– Annual cost of presenteeism: approx. £28 billion

– Annual cost of staff turnover: approx. £22 billion

– Annual cost of absenteeism: approx. £6 billion

This supports why mental health is something to measure and initiate for organisations.

The Deloitte report offers a few considerations for organisations; that support from employers cannot be a one-off exercise, attitudes of individuals differ, and the same interventions will not work for everyone. That employers should consider a portfolio of support measures available for the needs of different employees.

Professional coaching is a great supportive measure and initative to organisations. Coaches can offer professional 1-1 support, team support and make huge contributions towards creating conditions needed for people to thrive in the workplace. This allows ongoing support to employees so that they feel seen and heard. It gives them the opportunity to talk to someone who isn’t directly involved in their day to day and with no ulterior agenda. This increases productivity, wellbeing, and developmental growth and contributes towards reducing burnout, staff turnover, absenteeism and presentism.

5 ways coaching supports professionals with mental health in the workplace:

·       Improve their self-awareness

·       Clarify their goals for development

·       Enhance workplace skills

·       Develop a range of personal and professional mindsets and behaviours

·       Support psychological wellbeing

Coaching creates ripple effects of wellbeing throughout a company. When a coached leader experiences psychological wellbeing they often generate positive interactions with their employees. Thereby, creating waves of positive change in wellbeing amongst the team and throughout the organisation contributing towards mental health in the workplace.

Sources: 
CIPD health and wellbeing at work survey (2022)
Deloitte UK Mental Health Report (2022)
The World Health Organisation (2019)