Stress is the number one cause of long term absence at work (CIPD, 2011, Absence Management: Annual Survey Report).

Every organisation in Britain is affected by mental distress and ill health. One worker in six will be experiencing the symptoms of stress and depression. Mental ill health, whether diagnosed or not, is normal in every workplace in the UK (Sainsbury Centre, 2007, Mental Health at Work: Developing the Business Case).

Employees with work-related stress take average of 22.6 days off per year (HSE, 2010).

Even when people are still at work when suffering from stress, they are not productive. ‘Presenteeism’ accounts for 1.5 times as much working time lost as absenteeism (Sainsbury Centre, 2007, Mental Health at Work: Developing the Business Case).

Less than two fifths of employers know what the costs of employee absence, both human and financial, are to their organisation (CIPD 2015a, Absence Management Report; Annual Survey Report).

There is ‘a wealth of evidence’ in the academic and non-academic literature suggesting a positive link between the introduction of wellness programmes in the workplace and improved business key performance indicators (PricewaterhouseCoopers 2008).

Only 26% of employers see employee well-being as a priority, despite an overwhelming 97% believing in the link between well-being and organisational performance (Calnan, 2015).

Three things stand out from recent research about leadership: leaders need to have a relational leadership style; they need to demonstrate humility; and they need to appear less celebrity-like, remote and elite, rather being more human and personally approachable (CIPD, 2014 Leading Transformational Change).

Recent research into leadership trust, participants felt safe, appreciated, challenged and motivated by working with trustworthy line managers and angry, tainted, silenced and unmotivated working with non-trustworthy ones (Salter, 2016).

It’s the right thing to do. The World Health Organisation refer to business ethics and the moral imperative alongside the ‘cold hard facts economics and money’ as an argument for improving the health and wellbeing of the workforce (Burton 2010, WHO Healthy Workplace Framework and Model).