Employee Mental Health in 2022
May is Mental Health Awareness Month – and a great opportunity to talk about Employee mental health. Of course this is no small topic, even in the best of times. And in 2022 … mental health – both in the workplace and out of it – is definitely a topic worth paying attention to.
As I’m no mental health expert, I’m simply going to share some recent findings of an organization called The Conference Board.
Turning to the Data
The Conference Board is a nonpartisan, nonprofit research organization that offers economic insights to help leaders address societal challenges.
In December 2021, the Conference Board shared data gathered from a survey of more than 1,200 US workers, revealing great insight about the current state of workplace mental health. (Read the full text here.)
The data show that employee mental health continues to be suffering, even as the pandemic subsides. Probably not too surprisingly, over half (51 percent) of workers surveyed reported a decline in their mental health since the onset of the pandemic – with women reporting this at slightly higher rates than men (54 percent of women versus 46 percent of men).
What can employers do to support workers’ mental health?
According to the survey results, flexibility in the workplace is the key to support mental wellbeing.
Flexibility can of course incorporate flexible official work hours and/or a compressed work week, hybrid work schedule, or the ability to work from anywhere.
Certainly remote work has become a reality for many people; the survey even notes that more than 1 in 6 (15 percent) see no value at all in returning to the physical workplace. But many people ARE happy to return to onsite work, for reasons that very much tie into another important concept related to mental well being: the ability to have personal connections.
But ‘flexibility’ can incorporate so much more than flexible physical working arrangements. It can also incorporate making space for new and different offerings in the workplace that can also support workers’ mental health.
When asked what they would like to see their organization to offer, to better support employee mental health, here is how the survey participants responded:
Programs on how to thrive and flourish versus simply building resilience: 77 percent
Apps to address mental health challenges of workers: 55 percent
Virtual reality (VR) solutions to address mental health challenges of workers: 29 percent. (And lest you think these VR solutions were some kind of gen-Z driven response, the report notes that VR solutions were “requested equally by all generational cohorts.”)
Drawing a line
Workers survey also indicated strongly that they want organizations that set boundaries, as well as leaders who respect those boundaries.
66% of respondents want their organizations to encourage employees to disconnect at the end of normal working hours.
60% said they want to be able to take “no-work” vacation days without guilt.
Another popular idea was for organizations to offer training for managers to be able to better support workers’ mental health.
As the Conference Board notes in a March 17, 2021 publication, the role of managers and supervisors in spotting the early signs of mental distress in employees plays a “critical part” in a company’s effective support of workplace mental health. Therefore training is necessary in order to build managers’ and supervisors’ skills and confidence to engage and support employees’ concerns and needs.
Interested in supporting mental health and wellbeing in your work place? These additional resources below may be of use.
Additional Resources:
Resources on how mindfulness practices can support employees' emotional well-being
https://www.conference-board.org/webcast/ondemand/mindfulness
A guide from the American Psychiatric Association on Employee Mental Health & Well-being During & Beyond COVID-19
Find out what kind of resources/benefits your employer offers to support mental health. Ask about your company's emotional health benefits or ask your supervisor to direct you to the available resources (Advice from the American Heart Association). The following links are offered as a convenience if found that an employer has limited resources offered:
National Alliance on Mental Illness – Top Helpline Resources
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline – 1-800-662-HELP (4357)
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