Mental Health in the Workforce: How to Support your Employees
Support your employee’s mental health every day, not just on World Mental Health Day.
Monday, October 10 marks World Mental Health Day. Mental health has the ability to affect everyone. Even if you don’t have a mental health condition, chances are, you may know someone who does.
Mental health conditions may affect nearly one in five people, according to the Department of Labor. The World Health Organization estimates that of all working-age adults, 15 percent are affected by mental health conditions.
In recent years, the conversation on worker mental health has been brought more and more to the company table. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many employees saw an increase in mental health issues. According to a survey from The Standard, 46 percent of employees surveyed said they were “suffering from mental health issues.” Before the pandemic, that number was only 39 percent. A survey from the Society for Human Resource Management illustrated the high rate of mental health concerns. More than 40 percent of the 1,099 employees surveyed said they felt “hopeless, burned out or exhausted.”
It’s evident that mental health affects a large portion of workers. If you’re an employer, you may be wondering what you can do to help your employees. Here are a few ways you can support your workers.
Educate workers. OH&S SafetyPod episode “How to Support Employee Mental Health & Wellness” also offers resources for worker mental health. In the episode, Editor Sydny Shepard talks about direct ways to support workers. One of these ways is through education. Educate your workers on mental health and provide resources. This will allow them to learn more about mental health conditions, understand what they may be going through and help encourage talking about mental health in general. You can find a list of resources on websites like NSC.org. Learn more about a culture of empathy, the value of flexibility and more on the podcast.
