Going beyond the duty of care to nurture stronger, more resilient, more productive teams.

Mental health conditions cost Australian workplaces $10.9 Billion a year.

A  BeyondBlue/PwC Report has shown that untreated mental health conditions cost Australian workplaces $4.7 billion in absenteeism, $6.1 billion in presenteeism, and $146 million in compensation claims. What’s more, recent research assessments, utilising a human capital approach, estimate the global economic burden of mental illness is skyrocketing from US$2.5 trillion in 2010 to US$6.1 trillion in 2030. Most of this burden was due to lost productivity, defined as absenteeism and presenteeism. In addition to these dire statistics, the Sydney Morning Herald recently reported that Australian workers report the highest burnout rates in the world. Furthermore, appearing before a parliamentary committee The Australian Medical Association has warned that our mental health services have been overwhelmed. Mental health admissions are the fastest growing hospital admission increasing at an average rate of 4.8% each year. Aftershocks of the Covid 19 pandemic continue to reverberate. Periods of lockdown further blurred the boundaries between work and home. We are now facing a perfect storm of unprecedented proportions and the consequences for Australian employers are grave.

“Embracing mental health at work is not only a moral imperative but also a strategic investment.”

Dr Mark Whittington

Consulting Psychiatrist

When questioned about the challenges facing Australian employers Dr Mark Whittington had this to say:

“It all boils down to united we stand divided we fall. Healthy reciprocal relationships are the critical key, not just to productivity at work, but to our health and happiness as individuals. I believe this to be a categorical imperative of nature. Witness the inspiring example of Belgian draft horses.

The average individual Belgian draft horse can pull, on average, about four thousand pounds. By yoking two of these magnificent animals together you might assume that you could double that amount to eight thousand pounds. You would be wrong. Something miraculous happens. The power of relationships multiplies that amount to sixteen thousand pounds! And it gets even more interesting. If you take two Belgian Horses that live together, know each other, and have lived a couple of years of horse life together, on average, the amount that they can pull together blossoms out to a jaw-dropping thirty-two thousand pounds! The quality and depth of their relationship allow them to go from sixteen thousand to thirty-two thousand pounds! But that’s not all. The world record was set by two brother horses that had spent their whole lives together. They pulled a record of no less than fifty-two thousand pounds! That’s the power of relationships!”

Mentally healthy people build supportive, resilient, productive relationships.

It is better by far to focus on the prevention of mental illness than to face the way more daunting task of putting people back together after they have gone over the metaphorical cliff of stress and burnout. Employers have much to gain by reaching far beyond the bare minimum duty of care to mental health support that creates both purpose and engagement. In light of the dearth of mental health services available from our overburdened system, we need to focus on giving people the tools they need to care for themselves and each other. Like the Belgian Horses, the return on investment in raising morale and esprit de corps while building stronger more resilient teams multiplies many times over.
Metaphorical Therapy’s Corporate Seminars deliver significant tangible benefits:

Improved personal wellbeing.

• Empowerment and the feeling of being in control.
• Self-confidence and self-esteem stemming from the mastery of a unique suite of proven practical tools.
• Enhanced ability to cope with emotional and interpersonal problems.
• The ability to work through the steps of processing emotion thus avoiding emotional explosion or implosion.
• Improved understanding of interpersonal relationships and how to manage them.

Improvements in the workplace.

• Prevention of mental illness.
• A drops in absenteeism
• A positive impact on productivity
• Improved resilience
• Acquisition of a set of an invaluable set of skills that enables workers to help not just themselves but each other.

Improvements at home.

• Like ripples on a pond the mental health skills and strategies learned at work will extend embrace life at home – much to the benefit of your family life and society in general.
• Relationships at work and at home are strengthened by sharing our tools and their practical application.
• It’s much like learning a common language along that opens the door to a wealth of essential structured approaches that address the most common psychological problems while destigmatising the subject of mental illness.
• The mastery of this suite of tools, particularly with regard to setting healthy, reasonable boundaries; empowers individuals to recognise and accept their limits. Problems are viewed in perspective and are therefore seen as being manageable rather than overwhelming.

By reaching beyond duty of care you can create an environment that encourages employees to thrive and raise morale by being mutually supportive. You can change mindset which is the key to changing everything. Employees who feel supported in their mental well-being are more motivated, engaged, loyal, and productive. What’s more, by prioritising mental health you can attract a diverse and talented pool of candidates while enhancing your reputation as an employer of choice. If you want to reduce absenteeism and presenteeism in the workplace while building stronger, more resilient more productive teams email us at seminars@metaphoricaltherapy.com.

We have received overwhelmingly positive feedback for our seminars and witnessed extremely high emotional engagement.

“In my role as Human Resources Director; I will definitely use this as a tool for conflict management, self-awareness and introflection exercises for both individuals and teams.”

Jackie B, Human Resources Director

“Complex concepts were made so much easier to understand. Feedback from staff was unanimously and overwhelmingly positive. It was interesting. It was even fun at times. What I liked most of all is that it drew us all a little closer together.”

Courtney S, CEO

“Changing behaviours alone doesn’t change results.

Experts have struggled to explain why 70% of organizational change efforts fail. Arbinger studies show that one critical reason is because too often efforts focus on behaviour rather than what drives behaviour: mindset. Once people see others with a new mindset, they willingly change their own behaviour. This change in mindset is the most effective way to achieve desired results.”

The Arbinger Institute