Introducing Beacon, in collaboration with The Work and Health Unit

Evident has been selected to lead Beacon, an exciting new initiative working with The Work and Health Unit, a cross-government unit, jointly sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department of Health and Social Care, who work to improve the health and employment outcomes for disabled people and those with mental health conditions.

What is mental health?

Mental health includes our emotional, psychological and social well-being, affecting how we think, feel and act, whilst determining how we handle stress, make decisions and even how we relate to others.

Mental health relates to everyone and given that the average person spends 90,000 hours at work in their lifetime, paying better attention to positive mental health in the workplace couldn’t be more important.

Poor mental health costs employers between £33 billion and £43 billion a year…

Poor mental health costs the Government between £24 billion and £27 billion per year…

Poor mental health costs the UK economy between £74 billion and £99 billion per year…

Stevenson Farmer Report, 2019

Did you know…

• 1 in 3 of the working-age population in England report living with a long term health condition
• Almost 1 in 6 people of working age have a diagnosable mental health condition
• 83% of people acquire their disability while at work
• 1 in 3 employees with a long term health condition have not discussed it with their employer
• 73% of employers who made work-related adjustments for employees said it was easy to do so

What is the Beacon Project?

In collaboration with CIOS LEP, the Growth Hub, University of Plymouth and the University of Exeter, Beacon’s long term goal is to establish a change in mindset and process, throughout SME businesses, when it comes to the management, recruitment and retention of employees with disabilities or long term health conditions.

Beacon will support business owners to:

• Confidently employ from the widest pool of talent
• Encourage inclusivity and equality amongst their workforce
• Improve employee morale and positive mental health for all

By actively supporting a positive culture and behaviour change, Business Owners will feel completely supported, the stigma surrounding mental health and disability can be removed and employers can essentially reap the benefits of a highly-skilled, more inclusive and all-round happier workforce.

Watch this space for further information in coming months.

If you’re an SME business owner and would like to get involved in the production process for Beacon, and to become an early adopter once it’s launched, please get in touch by emailing info@evidentagency.com or completing our short form.