Wellbeing | Mental health 'slipping down' HR agenda, CIPD warns

Wellbeing and mental health are beginning to slip down the business agenda, a new report from the CIPD and Simplyhealth finds, despite the fact that organisations are still dealing with the fallout from COVID-19 and it remains an on-going concern for workers.

The Health and Wellbeing at Work 2022 report reveals that the number of HR professionals who think that wellbeing is on the agenda of senior leaders has fallen from 75% to 70% in the past year. There has also been a drop in the proportion of HR professionals who think senior leaders encourage a focus on mental wellbeing through their actions and behaviours, falling from 48% in 2021 to 42% in 2022.

Similarly, there has been a decrease in respondents who say managers have bought into the importance of wellbeing, dropping from 67% in 2021 to 60% for 2022.

But the report notes that COVID will continue to impact workers for some time and needs to be factored into organisational plans, particularly with regards to effective mental health support and helping people with long COVID. If they don’t, it warns, employers run the risk of losing valuable employees at a time of severe skills shortages.