Business guru calls for softer line on mental health

SIR John Harvey Jones, the former CEO of chemical firm ICI, is on a personal mission in Scotland. It is not his first visit - he spent time on the Clyde in a submarine during his career in the Royal Navy - but this time his presence in the Lighthouse in Glasgow last week was strictly not for pleasure.

Instead, as part of the Scottish Mental Health Awareness Week, he wants to highlight how the ignorance of mental health issues in the workplace is costing UK business more than 4bn every year.

"I’m interested in mental health because I believe it is such an overwhelming problem. As a charity it’s not popular, a lot of people have alcohol or drug-related problems, but everyone knows someone who has experienced some state of anxiety. Unfortunately, it’s not accepted as a disease or illness, and people suffer in the workplace in silence."

Jones says the statistics are staggering and the call to employees to ‘pull themselves together’ is not helping. Nearly three in every 10 employees will experience a mental health problem in any one year and stress-related absence is responsible for half of all sick leave.

"Taking a more positive approach to mental health will reduce absence levels and accidents, bring better performance, working relationships, higher staff morale and lower staff turnover. Staff, customers and profits will benefit. It’s a very serious issue," said Jones.

Now over 80, he retired more than 15 years ago and does not want to work full-time but he feels he has a duty to ensure the issue of mental health in the workplace is addressed. "I’m not trying to save the world but there are enormous problems in business with the mental health issue. Everything is wrong about the business approach. It’s a disease, not someone skiving or something self-inflicted."

He added: "Everyone has days where they say they can’t face going into the office, but when it becomes more frequent, the employee loses confidence and the bosses become more irate. If it was a different type of illness, the bosses would be understanding instead of feeling the employee is skiving. Mental health issues can be far more general but much more serious."

In Scotland, nearly one third of GP consultations involve mental health problems. Scotland has one of the highest suicide rates in Europe. Not addressing the issue of mental health has a devastating impact on staff, customers and profits. The CBI said: "We are convinced that the mental health of a company’s employees can have an important impact on business performance in the same way as a poor industrial relations climate or inadequate training."

Jones says it is not just about dealing with employees that feel under pressure. He argues there is a difference between pressure, stress and mental health problems. Working under pressure often improves performance, but when pressures become excessive they lead to stress, which reduces performance. While he says stress is not an illness, if prolonged it can lead to mental problems such as anxiety and depression.

"Most companies believe they don’t have problems and are often totally blind and complacent to what is going on in their offices. If you have a knowing and caring management, then there are things you can do to make sure the employees are catered for."

He added: "Unfortunately, most operate a macho company image and if people can’t keep up, they’re viewed as being a wimp or a failure. You can’t throw people on the scrapheap. They’re not spare widgets to be chucked out."

Jones was joined in Glasgow by Campbell Christie, the chair of Scottish Enterprise and the former general secretary of the STUC for the Good Business - Good Mental Health seminar. Christie echoed Jones’s concern and discussed in his speech business growth and employee health. He pointed out that in the growing attempts to build Scotland’s prosperity, the people dimension should not be overlooked.

Neither are pleading for money but for a wider appreciation of the size of the problem throughout the UK.

"It’s a tragedy that presents itself to so many people. Manic depression is an example. The person does not look different, so the problem is not instantly recognisable. Therefore, they get no help, yet if they broke their leg, help is quick to hand," said Jones.

Still identified as the UK’s best known industrialist through his BBC Troubleshooter series, Jones’s books are still best sellers. The Forum of Small Businesses (FSB), which has owners and managers of small and medium-sized businesses as its members, recommends the Troubleshooter series of books which tied in with the BBC series, giving ailing businesses a helping hand. Troubleshooter and Troubleshooter 2 came out in the early 1990s but the advice, they say, is still helpful, coming from one of Britain’s most successful business leaders. Jones is proud of the fact that Amazon readers give his latest book, Making it Happen - Reflections on Leadership, five stars.

Readers say it is full of common-sense advice on all aspects of business life and management, using his own experiences as chairman of ICI and his leadership in the Royal Navy. In particular, he demonstrates how it is possible to run a company with time and respect for everyone involved, and how this enables a company to excel.

"People make companies and that’s what is important. I had only worked in large organisations and I was very well aware of the problems of the large firms - inflexibility, remoteness from the customer, tendency to reaction rather than new thinking. Either way, big or small, I now know we should be concentrating on the welfare of the staff. If our sales went down, we’d wonder why so if people start taking time off, maybe we should step back and look at this issue too. We’d better take mental health in the workplace seriously before it’s too late."