Equipping Employers to Advance Mental Health Equity at Work

On November 3, 2022, business leaders and psychologists shared proven strategies to help employers improve mental health for all workers at a National Business Summit on Mental Health Equityopens in new window. APA hosted the summit with the Health Action Alliance, the country’s largest employer network operating at the intersection of business and public health. Additional partners included the Ad Council, One Mind, and Mental Health Action Day. This event is part of APA’s ongoing efforts to share the science on workplace mental health and equity, diversity, and inclusion with the business community.

Nearly 60% of employees say stress harms their performance at work, according to APA’s 2021 Work and Well-being survey. Survey dataopens in new window from McKinsey show that stigma remains a significant hurdle to mental health in the workplace, which poses unique challenges for neurodivergent employees and those from other historically marginalized communities.

Arthur C. Evans, Jr., PhD, APA’s CEO, opened the summit by asking leaders to consider how businesses can center equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging in their approaches to workplace mental health.

“If you’re an employer and you are taking a broad-based approach [to mental health] that treats your workforce as a monolith, you’re going to be missing very important differences between members of your workforce,” Evans said.

Maysa Akbar, PhD, ABPP, APA’s chief diversity officer, moderated an engaging panel discussion on how to empower employee collaboration on workplace mental health through the use of mental health employee resource groups (ERGs).

Wizdom Powell, PhD, a clinical psychologist and chief social impact and diversity officer, Headspace, was one of her panelists and encouraged employers to authentically engage with ERGs by bridging social capital and inviting employees to strategic discussions.  

Christine Nittrouer, PhD, an industrial/organizational psychologist and assistant professor, management, Texas Tech University, moderated the final panel on workplace mental health for neurodivergent employees. Some of the major takeaways from her panel’s conversation were the need to normalize conversations about neurodiversity in our workplaces and to provide mental health benefits as part of insurance plans.

The summit concluded with the release of a new Guide to Building a Mental Health Employee Resource Group (PDF, 4MB)opens in new window to help employers recruit ERG leaders and members, equip a mental health ERG for success, and identify opportunities for collaboration to tap into the energy and insights of their employees.