Leaders of UK businesses are collaborating to launch a new national campaign to end the culture of silence around mental health in the workplace and ensure mental wellbeing is recognised as a priority boardroom issue.

The campaign is being led by Business in the Community’s new Workwell Mental Health Champions Group whose founding members include BT, Bupa, RBS, Mars and Procter & Gamble. Members will help other business leaders to bring an end to the stifling workplace culture around mental health and ensure it is managed on the same level as physical health.

The group has launched its inaugural report, Mental Health: We’re Ready to Talk. The report sets out the evidence that the current culture of silence around mental health is stifling UK business productivity and competitiveness. The report also outlines the benefits for businesses that proactively engage with mental wellbeing; improved employee motivation, greater staff retention rates and increased competitiveness.

There is a significant economic cost to Wales and the UK that is related to mental ill health. The total annual cost of mental ill health in Wales is estimated to be £7.2bn.

The Mental Health: We’re Ready to Talk report identifies that 15.2 million days of sickness absence across the UK in 2013 were caused by everyday conditions such as stress, anxiety or depression – a dramatic increase from 11.8 million days in 2010. Despite one in six employees currently experiencing mental health issues, the report finds that businesses are not putting in place plans to ensure the mental wellbeing of their employees.

Furthermore, according to those employees surveyed by Time to Change Wales that are affected by mental ill health, around 60 per cent would not feel comfortable telling their manager they had been off work because of a mental illness.

Rosie Sweetman, Wales Director, Business in the Community said: “There is a clear moral and business case for engaging in mental health. It not only poses a threat to the wellbeing of society, but also to the health and future of the Welsh economy. The new Business in the Community Workwell Mental Health Champions Group provides clear leadership from, and for, businesses across the UK on this vitally important issue. In order to effect real change on the whole issue of mental health it must be recognised and acted upon at a senior level – with employers encouraged to take preventative and supportive actions on employee mental health and wellbeing – just as they would and often already have on physical health.”

Janet Pardue-Wood, acting director of Mind Cymru, said: “We’re delighted to be working with Business in the Community to make the case for investing in staff wellbeing. Mental health problems are common, but too often people don’t speak up, fearing a negative response, which means they don’t get access to timely support. This is why mental health represents one of the biggest health challenges of the modern age.

“A number of major employers already have measures in place to support the wellbeing of their staff, but this approach is far from universal. BITC’s Mental Health Champions Group represents an exciting and vital step change in how this issue is addressed by businesses. We’re urging forward thinking employers to make a commitment to take action by signing the Time to Change Wales pledge.”

Ant Metcalfe, Time to Change Wales programme manager, said: “We know from our own research that people with mental health problems in Wales are often uncomfortable talking to their managers or colleagues about their experiences. This makes it more difficult to get help and to recover. Everybody benefits from creating more mentally healthy workplaces and improving wellbeing throughout the workforce.

“We’re excited to be working with Business in the Community and welcome their campaign to end the silence around mental health issues in Welsh workplaces. This compliments the work Time to Change Wales is carrying out with some of Wales’ biggest employers to reduce stigma through our organisational pledge and training sessions.”

Two-fifths of organisations in the UK saw an increase in mental health problems last year, compared with only one-fifth in 2009 .

Business in the Community, Mind Cymru and Time to Change Wales are calling on businesses in Wales to take action and demonstrate their commitment towards supporting the mental health of their employees by signing the Time to Change Wales organisational pledge.

Mental Health: We’re Ready to Talk includes best practice examples of where a proactive employee mental wellbeing policy has had a proven impact on business performance, with supporting testimonials from senior executives implementing progressive wellbeing strategies in their own organisations. Videos of these case studies can also be found on the BITC Workwell website. The report has been developed in association with the mental health charity Mind, the Work Foundation and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).