How to Improve Employees' Mental Well-Being
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), depression and anxiety cost the global economy $1 trillion in lost productivity each year. However, the World Health Organization discovered that every dollar spent on treating common mental health issues results in a $4 return in increased health and productivity.
According to the Society for Human Resources Management, many companies are improving emotional and mental health benefits. Support might range from stress management to the treatment of invisible disabilities like anxiety and depression.
The following are some of the potential advantages of supporting employee mental health:
- Increased productivity: Nearly 86 percent of people treated for depression report increased work performance, according to research. Treatment for depression has also been demonstrated to reduce absenteeism and presenteeism by 40 to 60% in several trials.
- Increased employee retention: In a 2019 survey of more than 1,500 employees throughout the US, more than a third of those polled claimed they had left a job because of mental health issues, at least in part. Mental health was cited as the critical factor by 59 percent of those polled.
- Reduced health-care and disability costs: Adults with major mental illness have twice the prevalence of cardiovascular and metabolic disorders, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
Here are nine ways in which your company may help employees with their mental health:
- Make mental health training a requirement for your company’s executives to assist them in becoming more aware of and invested in their employees’ well-being.
- Managers should receive training on what to do if they notice indicators of emotional distress or substance addiction.
- Using mental health calculators, calculate the prevalence and costs of untreated depression and alcohol and substance misuse at your company.
- Determine how your employees’ health and stress levels affect their productivity, use questionnaires like the Work Limitations Questionnaire and the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire.
- Create a program for employee help (EAP). Several organizations implement an employee assistance program (EAP) to improve workplace mental health. Some employees may be hesitant to use this resource due to concerns about stigma and humiliation and a lack of awareness about how these confidential programs operate. However, there are steps your company can take to boost EAP usage.
- Mention mental health benefits and community resources. They should be promoted regularly, such as in monthly mailings.
- Ensure that your executives be empathetic and bring up emotional well-being whenever they discuss hiring new staff or creating an inclusive culture that allows employees to bring their best selves to work
- Make workshops available for staff to learn more about mental health and resilience.
- Promote well-being by allowing flexible schedules whenever possible. Moreover, offer meditation and yoga classes at work in addition to meditation training. You can also encourage employees to use their vacation time.
Creating a supportive environment for mental health issues requires processes of fostering awareness toward human-related issues. Leaders need to be trained on how to create psychological safety where employees feel safe to talk about their well-being, how to increase inclusion to those employees with challenging issues. Also how to be more empathetic to recognize that an employee is struggling and to be attentive to solving the issues of the employee.
Taking care of employees’ mental health is an investment that pays off in the long run, not only for the employee but also for the organization.
Further read:
Feeling Safe at Work
Empathy: The Essential Workplace Ingredient
1World Health Organization, Mental health in the workplace, https://www.who.int/teams/mental-health-and-substance-use/promotion-prevention/mental-health-in-the-workplace
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