Workplace Counselling: What the figures tell us
This page offers a summary of data from over 15,000 counselling sessions in the last two years. The average referral rate (the proportion of staff that use the workplace counselling service) has been constant at around 3% for many years now and continues to be the case for this period.
Following these averages, an organisation with 100 employees would typically expect to see 3 people referred to counselling each year. This is quite healthy – referral rates really only signal a concern when they sit at either extreme.
An extremely low referral rate can signal a culture of under-reporting; a culture where health and safety issues aren’t identified or raised as well as they should be. While a higher than average referral rate can simply be an indication that workplaces are using the service well to proactively manage emerging issues, extremely high rates can be a signal of higher-risk/high-stress environments.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the economic climate, the Government and finance sectors displayed the highest referral rates and the greatest increase since the previous year (referral rates of 8% and 6% respectively; an increase of over 2% in each case). Other industry areas that exhibited slightly above average referral rates included the health, local government, transport, and manufacturing sectors. All of these ranges were well within healthy levels, indicating a proactive use of the service.
Two sectors (retail and education) displayed referral rates below the average at a little over 1%. Again though, considering these environments, there is nothing to raise particular concern.
Counseling trends tend to closely follow the cycle of our normal human lives. Despite that, it is still surprising the number of workplaces that operate without any cover for their staff during peak-stress periods. The data compiled here is a good reminder of the continued need for this to change.
What are the most significant issues?
The answers to this question are almost entirely unchanged in the last two years. While there are some minor changes in the exact percentages, the ranking of the issues that matter the most to New Zealand workers are extremely consistent.
Overwhelmingly, relationships issues (both personal and work-related) are the single greatest factor that prevents people from performing productively in their workplaces. Our counselors spend a full 30% of their time working with clients to manage or resolve relationship issues that negatively affect their ability to work. This increases to 40% when you include issues specifically relating to a person’s boss or colleagues.
Without any doubt, relationships are the single greatest determinant of productivity in a workplace. Ironically, they are seldom given anywhere near the amount of attention devoted to structure and strategy and finances, yet they determine the success of each of these.
Following that, concerns relating to restructures (18%), depression and anxiety (12%), workplace stress (9%), personal stress (8%) and grief (5%) were the top themes affecting those we dealt with.
Continuing to registering much lower down the scale are issues relating to physical health and sickness, addictions, workplace bullying, violence and harassment, legal concerns, financial concerns, and general emotional health.
Looking at the list of issues and their ranking in our clients’ eyes, it reinforces ever more clearly the need for workplaces to cater to their workers as complex physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual beings. We bring more with us to the workplace than just our skillset and experience, and our productivity is affected by much more than structure and capability.
The organisations that learn to manage the wellbeing of their workers in this holistic sense are consistently those that achieve the highest, and most sustainable, levels of productivity.
We’ve been doing this for nearly four decades and continue to see the same themes reinforced more deeply. The good news is that dealing with these issues and helping workers return to health and productivity is exactly what we’re here for.
If we can help with any of these issues in your workplace, just let us know.
