FT Article - Link between wellbeing and productivity is made ‘clear’

Series 7

For today, let's have a read on Financial Time Articles with the theme: Health

4. Link between wellbeing and productivity is made ‘clear’

Comments by Mel Stride, the UK secretary of state for work and pensions, claiming Britain’s attitude to mental health had “gone too far” by medicalising the “normal anxieties of life” recently stoked a fierce debate. Some welcomed his no-nonsense approach; others criticised it as punitive.

But the conversation highlighted the interplay between work and mental health.This is not only an issue for government ministers, doctors and those struggling with anxiety and depression, but also one for employers.

According to an analysis of the UK labour force survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, about half the number of people with depression and anxiety said it limited the amount of work they could do — and the impact was higher, in absolute numbers, than that of physical back and neck problems.

Organisations have long sought to understand how best to capitalise on their staff’s wellbeing. In the 19th century, paternalistic factory owners such as Titus Salt — who built the model village Saltaire in West Yorkshire with homes, a park and school — were motivated by a mix of Christian care for their workers and a desire to boost productivity. Later, the link between emotions and performance was further explored in the human relations movement of the 1930s and 1940s, and happiness economics of the 2000s.

More recently, the Covid pandemic has prompted a renewed emphasis on staff wellbeing. At a time when workers were under pressure, juggling the demands of caring responsibilities, home-schooling and isolating during successive lockdowns, many employers sought to help. Initiatives included offering wellness apps, appointing chief medical officers, and providing budgets for exercise equipment.

Tobba Vigfusdottir, chief executive and founder of Kara Connect, a digital
wellbeing platform, says that employers are increasingly offering services once provided by “conventional support structures”, such as “church and
neighbourhood communities”. In return, employers, like Salt before them, expect a return on their efforts.