Five Ways to Support Your Employees’ Mental Health
Mental health is paramount to individual wellness.
Each year, one in five U.S. adults experiences mental illness, with only one in three seeking the help they need. Mental health struggles often present in the workplace as increased absences, appearing distracted or withdrawn, missing deadlines, and becoming less productive. Focusing on employee mental health is important for the team and your bottom line.
According to World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, depression and anxiety cost the global economy $1 trillion per year in lost productivity. And, for every $1 spent on treating common mental health concerns, there is a return of $4 in improved health and productivity. Not surprisingly, the Society for Human Resources Management found many employers are enhancing emotional and mental health benefits, including adding programs to offer support ranging from stress management to addressing invisible disabilities such as anxiety and depression.
The connection between physical health and mental health prompted the American Heart Association’s CEO Roundtable to release a report called “Mental Health: A Workforce Crisis.” The report found that “the cost of doing nothing is higher than investing in evidence-based prevention and treatment,” so employers are urged to provide comprehensive programs for preventing and treating mental illness.
Benefits of supporting employee mental health:
- Decreased health care and disability costs
- Increased retention
- Increased productivity
Ways companies can support employee mental health:
1. Understand how mental health impacts your employees.
Here are some proactive steps you can take to understand and assess your employees’ mental health:
- Offer mandatory mental health training for company leaders to help them be more aware of and invested in this aspect of their employees’ well-being.
- Train managers on what to do if they see signs of emotional distress or substance abuse.
- Use mental health calculators to estimate the prevalence and associated costs of untreated depression and alcohol and substance abuse at your workplace.
- Consider using surveys such as the Work Limitations Questionnaire and the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire to measure how your employees’ health and stress levels affect their productivity.
2. Include mental health coverage as part of your health care plan.
- The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act requires insurance coverage for mental health conditions (including substance use disorders) to be no more restrictive than insurance coverage for other medical conditions.
- Avoid plans that offer “phantom” mental health coverage
- Provide easily accessible lists of local psychologists and psychiatrists who are in-network
- Provide health savings accounts (HSA) to help offset out-of-pocket costs
3. Establish an employee assistance program (EAP).
To encourage employees to use an EAP, your company can:
- Provide direct access to mental health professionals via phone and/or in person
- Offer resources to employees and their immediate family members
- Provide easy access mental health resources and mental health care providers
- Emphasize that EAPs can be accessed confidentially and free of charge
4. Reduce the stigma and increase access to mental health resources.
- Promote mental health benefits and offer mental health resources year-round
- Ensure executives mention emotional well-being whenever they talk about recruiting talent
- Building an inclusive culture that helps employees bring their best selves to work
- Offer workshops so employees can learn more about mental health and resilience
5. Promote well-being.
- When possible, allow flexibility in employee scheduling
- Offer access to apps that can help with sleep and stress reduction
- Consider offering in-office opportunities for meditation, mindfulness training, and/or yoga classes
- Encourage employees to use their vacation time
- Provide accommodations and develop a return-to-work process so that employees who need to take a leave of absence because of a mental health issue feel supported when they return
- Create opportunities for employees to build connections with each other, such as through social events, affinity groups, and electronic message boards.