Analysis of FTSE 100 annual reports replicate last year’s findings and solidify the link between investment in employee mental health and corporate earnings. The half of the FTSE 100 that reports most on employee mental health and wellbeing enjoys two times more profit, before tax, than the bottom half.
The average FTSE 100 company mentioned ‘mental health’ almost twice as much as last year. However, two out of three companies–mainly the same as last year–still fail to make any mention of ‘mental health’ in their reporting Research findings welcomed by mental health campaigner Geoff McDonald.
An analysis of all current FTSE 100 annual reports has replicated last year’s inaugural results: a statistically significant link between the reporting of employee mental health and wellbeing and corporate earnings. Companies that addressed mental health and wellbeing most in this year’s annual reports continued to show up to two times more profit.
The study was conducted by digital health startup Soma Analytics, which uses artificial intelligence and cognitive behavioural science to detect and prevent psychological stress among office workers. The report suggests that companies that ‘care’ about employee’s mental health to the extent that they report on them publicly, are more productive than those that don’t.
“We are very glad that this year’s study replicates last year’s findings, building an even stronger case for openly addressing mental health in the workplace.” said Johann Huber, co-founder and CEO of Soma Analytics. “We are particularly pleased about companies reporting almost twice as much about mental health – you can see a clear change for the better happening in the UK.”
The study includes a foreword by Geoff McDonald, mental health campaigner and former Global VP of HR at Unilever. McDonald writes: “This report shows that more and more organisations report on mental health and wellbeing of their staff and that the awareness in leadership circles and boardrooms is increasing. We have come far in the last four years, yet there is still some way to go.”
Soma’s FTSE 100 Report 2018: Mental Health and Wellbeing is based on a semantic analysis of all the current annual reports published by FTSE 100 companies. More than 22,000 pages of corporate reporting were scanned for references to employee mental health and wellbeing. Results were clustered by company size, revenue and industry as well as by Glassdoor rating.
A statistical analysis of variance between mental health and wellbeing count and company profitability was also undertaken. All results were compared to last year’s inaugural findings.
The best-performing sectors include Construction and Finance, Insurance & Real Estate. Among the worst performers are Travel & Leisure, Media and Retail & Consumer Goods. All 100 companies and their results are listed.
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