The issue of the mental health of employees seems to be increasingly important to many businesses.

It pays bosses to be aware of them since, apart from anything else, it is a leading cause of sickness absence.

Seventy million work days are lost each year due to mental health problems in the UK, costing employers about £2.4 billion per year.

While no figures are available just for the Isle of Man, it seems probable that there is a similar effect on workplaces here.

Local audit and accountancy firm KPMG is using the services of London-based Human Performance Consultancy, Pro-Noctis.

Over the last four months, KPMG staff have taken part in weekly 90-minute educational sessions covering a variety of topics ranging from positive psychology, organisational resilience, sleep hygiene, energy systems to meeting dynamics as well as having the opportunity for one-to-one coaching sessions with Pro-Noctis’s performance coaches.

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The project was designed and researched alongside the firm’s human resources manager, Lynsey Harris.

She said: ’The Pro-Noctis sessions have offered some simple and practical ways for everyone to look after their mental health. With the stresses of modern life, we all face challenges from time to time. At KPMG, we’re keen to address this and we place a lot of emphasis on staff wellbeing.’

The company says the project led to noticeable improvement in the KPMG Global People Survey (GPS) in learning and development, with 83% of respondents stating they had access to learning and development which helped improve their knowledge and skills.

KPMG’s managing partner on the Isle of Man, Russell Kelly, said: ’Working with Phil [Quirk] and the team across our business has been very insightful and the feedback from staff has been strong. Helping people to understand how their performance is impacted by state of mind and what drives certain types of behaviours have been extremely valuable to us.’

Pro-Noctis co-founder Phil Quirk said: ’From our perspective the project has been an incredible success, and from a personal point of view it has been fantastic to work closely with everyone at KPMG over the 13 weeks the project spanned. We’ve been keen to highlight that making simple changes to how you live doesn’t need to cost a fortune or take up loads of time. Anyone can follow our advice. We’d encourage everyone to start today.’

Meanwhile, another Athol Street firm has taken a similar approach.

Finance advice company MAC Group is giving its staff access to advice via the internet from an outfit called Mente.

Mente specialises in mental health and safety in the workplace.

Through the Mente online platform employees are provided with resources to help them understand mental health, as well as pathways to gaining support for a whole array of issues including debt management, bereavement and addictions.

MAC says all employers have a moral and legal duty of care to their staff.

James Aire, a MAC account executive, said: ’The portal looks great, it’s interactive and has so much information. The courses count towards your CPD and such things like improving your resilience and ability to manage stress are invaluable in so many different roles.’

Through Mente, staff are able to provide anonymous feedback to the employer by completing surveys on workplace practices affecting mental health.

Employers are able to track absence, access professional and legal support as well as a number of resources such as policies, risk assessment templates and guidance.

Nigel Gregg, managing director of MAC, said: ’Mente is about early intervention.

’It provides employees with the tools to be able to manage their own mental wellbeing along with the knowledge that it is fully supported by their workplace.

’When so much stress can be attributed to work, isn’t it a great idea that all the support for coping with it, along with other issues outside, can come directly from work?

’We’re really pleased to be able to offer this new resource to our staff and hopefully encourage more companies on the Island to follow suit.’

Phone company Sure last week held drop-in sessions run by mental health first aiders.

The sessions will now take place weekly and are open to all employees to confidentially discuss any aspect of mental health with a qualified mental health first aider from Sure.

Sure has 22 mental health first aiders among its workforce in the Channel Islands and Isle of Man and they have undergone training to increase their awareness of mental health issues and address any queries or concerns their colleagues may have.

They can direct employees to services if they want further guidance or advice.

Sure last week ran a range of optional activities for employees, including an introduction to mindfulness, a group walk and sessions that provide tools for addressing mental health issues.