There is a significant disparity in mental health practices “between the leaders and the slow-moving majority” of the largest UK-listed employers, according to the investor-backed 2024 CCLA Corporate Mental Health Benchmark- UK 100.
The study ranked 101 companies on their employee mental health support, placing them into five tiers based on performance.
More than half (51 out of the 101) of the employers are in the bottom two tiers of performance, suggesting improvement is needed.
Researchers said employers in the bottom tier, such as TUI, Pearson, and Greggs, are only at the beginning of their employee mental health journey.
Top tiers
However, researchers also highlighted employers ranked in the top tier for setting exemplary standards, including BT Group, Experian and Centrica.
Twenty employers ranked in the top two tiers in 2024, up from 10 in 2022, which researchers said suggests around 1.5 million employees work for businesses with a mature approach to mental health.
Almost a quarter, 24 companies, improved their tier performance on mental health in 2024, with six firms in the top tier: BT Group, Centrica, Entain, Experian, J Sainsbury and Serco Group.
Huge economic costs
These rankings follow estimates that the economic cost of poor mental health is £110 billion in England alone, published by the Centre for Mental Health in March this year.
But only 44 percent of companies said they provided mental health training for line managers, down from 50 percent last year, while just 42 percent of CEOs publicly promote workplace mental health.
The researchers said that this gap in training is a critical area where HR can make a substantial impact, especially given the rise in economically inactive adults due, in part, to mental health issues.
The latest ONS figures, published on 11 June, 2024, estimated economic inactivity at 22.3 percent for February to April 2024, up 0.3 percentage points from the previous quarter.
Amy Browne, stewardship lead at CCLA and co-author of the benchmark report, said: “This year’s benchmark demonstrates that the most progressive companies are making concerted efforts to get ahead on mental health. The results show a revealing and widening gap between the leaders and the slow-moving majority.”
Business risk
Browne continued: “The significant increase in engagement on this topic since 2023 suggests a growing awareness by companies of poor mental health as a business risk, with many informally citing talent acquisition and retention as a key driver.
“Importantly, this year’s benchmark demonstrates that the most progressive companies are making concerted efforts to get ahead on mental health. The results show a revealing and widening gap between the leaders and the slow-moving majority. Seven companies made it into tiers 1 and 2 for the first time in 2024, with one in five now ranked in the top two performance tiers. This should be celebrated.
“However, there remains concern about the lack of progress in companies at the bottom of the tier rankings. Employees deserve better from their employers.”
Evaluate your practices
Sarah Hughes, chief executive officer at Mind, said: “With many of us spending so much of our time at work, mentally healthy workplaces are a crucial component to creating a mentally healthy nation. I’m heartened to see workplace mental health remains on the business agenda.
“That’s why the CCLA Mental Health benchmark is such a valuable resource which helps us understand the performance of companies on workplace mental health, and most importantly, allow employers to evaluate their current practices and identify areas for improvement.
“Together we can foster positive and open cultures, role model behaviours, and make an unequivocal commitment to staff. If we get this right, more and more people will be able to thrive at work.”
