Employee Mental Health: 6 Solutions to HR’s Big Challenge This Year

Employee mental health will be one of HR’s biggest challenges this year. But HR professionals have hope that they can help their employees navigate their well-being.

The challenge is real: Nearly a third of employees say mental health is their No. 1 safety concern at work, according to Pie Insurance’s newest Employee Voice on Workplace Safety Report.

The hope is real, too: More than 91% of employers are confident they can address their employees’ mental health concerns.

And that should create a positive outcome: 75% of employees say mental health support would make a meaningful difference in their work and well-being.

“By all accounts, employee mental health has taken a hit,” said Anna Mittag, Senior VP of Products and Services at LifeSpeak. “It’s something employers must deal with. The pressure is on now.”

Employee Mental Health Took a Hit

Employees face demands in and out of the workplace that affect what happens on the job. In fact, nearly 80% say they’ve sacrificed their mental health to meet work demands, according to Modern Health’s report.

So, if employees are willing to make sacrifices for their employers, you’ll want to do that for them, right?

They need support and resources to regain mental well-being. Here are six ways HR can help now:

1. Increase Easy-Access Information

You can provide employees with a bounty of information and resources on mental health well-being, but like a horse to water, you can’t force them to take it in.

That’s why it’s critical to make the information uber-easy to get a hold of and understand.

“No-barrier access is really important,” Mittag said. “Head people off at the pass with education and help. Then make it easy to consume the content.”

Promote the services and information you have with:

• HR benefits specific email
• Push notifications, and
• Links in general company messages.

With each, tell employees how long it’ll take them to read or listen to the resource. Also, make each resource – such as a short mindfulness session or advice on parenting when dealing with depression (which Mittag said is an increasingly hot topic) – just one click away.

2. Double Down on Manager Support

Many front-line managers face a mental health double-whammy: They struggle with issues such as stress and isolation. And they support many people who share the same struggles in hopes of getting help.

“They’re not counselors, therapists or psychiatrists,” said Mittag, “yet they’re called to be these. So what front-line managers really need is recognition from HR and the executives that they need help and tools to support their employees.”

You’ll want to start or bolster front-line management training to include how to:

• Identify when employees are struggling with mental health issues
• Initiate and have conversations around mental health care
• Respond to employees who bring mental health concerns to them, and
• Send regular, ready-made emails with links to support mental health, plus content that helps them decide if or when it’s time to get more help.

3. Make Strides Every Day

Nearly 75% of employees feel moderate to very high stress at work, according to the annual Aflac WorkForces Report. It’s not a big occasional project, dispute with a colleague or failure that causes this level of stress.

Almost every day, there’s a struggle. So, almost every day, employees need help to stay balanced.

“Breaking the cycle of stress and burnout may begin with employers carefully analyzing employees’ responsibilities both on and off the clock and threading the needle between productivity and home life balance,” said Aflac Chief Strategy Officer Matthew Owenby. “Developing a broader understanding of what is driving stress can support the creation of programs that alleviate burnout, which, in turn, can deliver a higher level of productivity.”

Add – or again, bolster – resources to help employees with their lives outside of the workday. For instance, share recorded expert tips on financial health or help them create Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) so they can collaborate on issues such as parenting in a pandemic, caring for older adults or socializing in a remote work model.

4. Address What’s Important

While you want to give employees plenty of information and easy access to it, it’s equally important to provide what’s most useful to them now.

For LifeSpeak and its clients, requests for expert mental health advice and resources jumped 60% in one year recently. Mittag said most of the requests were on the subjects that had always been popular – anxiety, resilience, depression and relationships. But one in particular shot up: sleep hygiene.

That prompted LifeSpeak to amp up information and resources on sleep’s role in mental well-being, while providing great content on the usual most requested subjects.

So keep an eye and ear on the pulse of your employees’ needs. Pay attention to the subjects and resources they tap so you’re sure to have the most up-to-date information available to them, plus access to experts in those fields.

5. Build the Culture

As with most workplace issues, efforts to improve and support mental health well-being will be most effective if they’re championed from the top.

“If you’re going to have a corporate culture that acknowledges mental health as important as all physical health – the same as treatment for cancer or broken bones, for instance – it has to be made explicit by leadership and HR,” Mittag said.

So the stronger the support you get from the C-Suite, the more likely HR’s efforts to help employees with mental well-being will work.

An effective tactic Mittag shared: One CEO starts companywide meetings with a brief video on a mental health issue – for instance, work-related stress – and a tactic to help cope with it. Then the CEO shares a struggle he’s had with stress and how he deals with it. That helps normalize mental well-being for all employees.

And if you think – or know – you’ll get pushback when pursuing support for mental well-being support, remind the C-Suite that investments in it pay off. In a Deloitte study, researchers found for every $1 a company invested in mental health care, it realized a $6 return on important Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) such as improved employee productivity and reduced sick time.

6. Encourage Proactivity and Positivity

With the support of the C-Suite, you can likely build momentum in a well-being initiative that takes any negative stigma out of mental health issues.

Then you can hold and promote initiatives aimed at maintaining a mentally healthy workforce. You might create – or invite employees to create – mental health support groups that fit their interests. Some might use time in nature. Others might want yoga or meditation. Some others might want group therapy on issues that impact their lives.

Keep your focus on employee needs, and you’ll find positive mental health initiatives for your organization.

“Employees’ sense of belonging influences how they feel about their roles, colleagues and organization as a whole,” said Owenby. “We should all take note and explore ways to build cultures that genuinely support opportunities for a more engaged workforce — one that is grounded in purpose and value. Belonging is a powerful driver of employee well-being.”