It is becoming increasingly apparent that beyond the negative effects to individuals, mental health and wellbeing concerns have a significant cost to businesses. The Stevenson Farmer Report (2017) estimates that poor mental health costs UK employers between £33 billion and £42 billion per year, due to presenteeism, sickness absence and staff turnover. Similarly, Oxford Economics estimate that the UK GDP in 2015 could have been £25 billion higher, if not for the economic consequences of poor mental health. So, what can organisations do to protect the mental health and wellbeing of their workforce, and thus their business as a whole?

Ineffective steering can lead to mental health risks

Wide-scale studies conducted by STEER have shown that the mind has both a cognitive engine as well as cognitive steering. Studying students over a 10 year period, STEER showed that increased risks of mental health problems, such as not coping with pressure, developing anxiety or self-harm, were strongly linked to people learning to drive their minds fast, but not learning to steer.

Amongst the highest performing secondary schools, the minds of A level students behaved as motorway drivers- mentally acquiring and processing data quickly, but not developing the agility to adjust their pace, their direction and their engagement in differing situations. As a result, their engines were in danger of burning out, resulting in a sudden 'veering' off the mental health road.

On the other hand, students with healthy cognitive steering showed protective factors against such risks. This can be attributed to the fact that students who develop healthy patterns are more agile and flexible, which means they are able to make more effective social-emotional choices in the face of challenging situations.

The Steering vs Speed Model

As companies become increasingly focused on wellbeing, the model of speed vs steering is predicted to become more important. Companies which prioritise cultures of speed at the expense of steering are likely to see increased burn outs, crashes and casualties. These may carry high associated human, reputational and financial costs.

The pandemic has provided the opportunity to embrace a new paradigm of mental performance. The emerging science of steering vs speed provides a language for investing in mental thriving without compromising mental performance.

Steering is trainable

STEER has shown that the ability to steer is trainable. Our studies have compared the differences between the learning outcomes of undergraduates who received training in how to steer and those who did not. Those who were trained in steering demonstrated higher academic attainment than those who received no training.

STEER’s research suggests that organisations stand to gain significantly from having a workforce who are able to steer compared to those incentivised to only drive fast. By investing in their employee’s steering, businesses can not only safeguard the wellbeing of their employees, but also improve their long-term outcomes.

The question is not whether a business can afford to invest in the steering capabilities of their workforce, but rather, can they afford not to?