Globally, organisations lose 200 million workdays and up to 16.8 billion US dollars each year from employee mental health challenges due to healthcare costs, presenteeism (being physically present but not psychologically engaged), absenteeism, reduced productivity, etc., says a recent review on mental health at work. The common mental health challenges at work include mood and anxiety disorders and post-traumatic stress disorders from workplace accidents and injuries. It is estimated that on average, 1 in 6 employees had a mental health issue across the globe. In Hong Kong, opportunities for employees to seek professional advice when they are in the edge of mental health issues are limited.

Therefore, on this very special day, we call for individual employees to pay attention to self- and other-directed kindness and compassion – to often check in with yourself and your colleagues if they are doing fine. For management, leadership, and policy makers, it is important to regularly evaluate not just physical, but also psychosocial risks at work, i.e., factors that could cause psychological harm to employees. “Decent work is good for mental health”. Let’s work together to create a psychological safe and rewarding work environment for ourselves, and for the workforce.

References:
Lynch, J. W., & Rodell, J. B. (2018). Blend in or stand out? Interpersonal outcomes of managing concealable stigmas at work. Journal of Applied Psychology, 103(12), 1307–1323. https://lnkd.in/e_BEQkSQ

Rosado-Solomon, E. H., Koopmann, J., Lee, W., & Cronin, M. A. (2023). Mental health and mental illness in organizations: A review, comparison, and extension. Academy of Management Annals, 17(2), 751-797. https://lnkd.in/e5sgAwvg

Want to know more? Visit and follow the pages below:

HKPS website: https://hkps.org.hk
DIOP website: https://lnkd.in/eAs_jGpt
World Federation of Mental Health website: https://wfmh.global

HKPS LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/eh3J8rni
DIOP LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/egyQVSZV
World Federation of Mental Health LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/eAU6iaqu