Mental Health and Well-Being
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. In a previous blog post, we highlighted some important employee mental health statistics including:
- 78% of employees say that pandemic has negatively affected their mental health and well-being.
- 85% of employees report that newfound work-related stress is affecting their home lives.
- It is estimated that 62% of employees with mood disorders, 76% with anxiety disorders and 81% with substance use disorders are not receiving treatment.
- More than 50% of employees with mental illness do not get help mainly because of stigma, prejudice and discrimination against those with mental illnesses, as well as lack of awareness.
In that article we also explained a new employee mental health model and ideas for mental well-being solutions that can truly make a difference. Whether you’re ready to start implementing these solutions or you already have implemented them and are anxiously waiting for your employees to take advantage of them, you might have one last question for us: “How do I encourage my employees to get involved and utilize these new benefits?” That is exactly what we want to answer for you today!
The Three “C’s”
We want to start off by saying do not get frustrated! Mental health and well-being is a complex topic and can often be a two part process, with multiple steps within each part. The first part of the process is realizing your employees need support and discovering which solutions will fit their needs best. The second part is all about awareness and accessibility. Listed below are three steps you can take to encourage your employees to utilize the mental health and well-being services being offered to them:
- Communication: Communicating your new mental health and well-being services is the most important step! As explained by Employee Benefit News, your communication needs to be “holistic.” Meaning you need to utilize multiple communication strategies to ensure the right solutions are reaching your target audience. Each solution should also be clearly explained and outlined with the benefits of participation for employees to understand.
- Connection: Piggybacking off of step 1, employers need to ensure they’re fostering a connection between their mission and their employees. This means that your communication strategy should be personal. Think about it as a mental health campaign with a focus on empathy and connection.
- Culture: Ensure every action you take supports the larger goal of creating a company culture that embodies mental health and well-being. Things like creating mental health dialogue, getting feedback from employees and finding additional ways to support them, training managers in mental health awareness, cultural inclusion and holistic well-being all support this goal. In the end, building a company culture around themes of wellness and inclusion will continue to promote the first two steps in years to come.
For more information, check out our Learning Resources page or visit Employee Benefit News!
