Leveling up: Supporting employees’ psychological well-being for maximum return

Enhancing your employees’ mental well-being is a talent management issue. It requires strategic investments of time and money. And the steps you take to better support your employees at work can empower them to thrive in other areas of their lives, thus ensuring the long-term health and success of your employees and your organization.

You are committed to the essential work to create a mentally healthy and welcoming company culture. Now, you’re ready for the next level. Here are five steps you can take to improve employee mental health beyond table stakes—or the minimum offering—for the good of your people and your organization.

Having mental health resources is one thing. Making it easy to access mental health resources is another. Thirty-seven percent of employees say that employer-provided mental health resources can contribute to a better work environment (APA, October 2021). Employee assistance programs (EAPs) are a valuable tool to help achieve this. However, while research shows EAP services can successfully improve a range of employee issuesopens in new window associated with lower productivity, a low percentage of employees use them.

Unused EAP services can be costly to both workers and organizations. Data from the National Bureau of Economic Research (PDF, 884KB)opens in new window suggest that employees who don’t use their well-being programs (such as EAPs) tend to require higher rates of medical care; annual medical costs are about $1,400 higher for such employees (National Bureau of Economic Research, 2020). These costs build upon the effects of unaddressed mental health challenges on employee productivity and performance.

To maximize employee engagement in the EAP and encourage positive outcomes, regularly audit your EAP to ensure you are providing the maximum benefit for your workers. This includes evaluating your EAP providers to verify they follow best practices and draw on current research.

Consider launching a cross-departmental benefits committee to review EAP offerings and ensure a diverse group of mental health professionals is enlisted to meet the needs of employees with different identities and backgrounds. Ask the benefits committee to find creative ways to remove the stigma around seeking mental health services and encourage employees to take advantage of EAP offerings. This is an opportunity to give employees a voice and then directly respond to their needs.

Use multiple methods to communicate to employees what services the EAP provides, what topics EAP professionals can cover (i.e., stress, mental health, finances, family issues), and that EAP services are available and confidential. It’s important to use messaging that normalizes the use of mental health benefits and to remove any possible barriers for employees.

Rethink how you promote your EAP, so information is easy to find and understand. AI-driven survey tools can guide your employees to appropriate resources for their unique scenarios. Remove barriers by ensuring flexibility so employees can use EAP services during the workday and not be penalized for prioritizing their mental health.

Just as CPR helps people assist someone having a heart attack, Mental Health First Aid (MHFA)opens in new window can help managers and supervisors assist someone experiencing a mental health or substance use challenge or crisis. MHFA is an evidence-based training administered by the National Council for Mental Wellbeingopens in new window that teaches people how to identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental health issues and substance use challenges. Scientific reviews show the effectiveness of MHFA training in improving mental health literacyopens in new window and support for those with mental health problems up to six months after training. One analysis revealed that MHFA increases mental health knowledgeopens in new window, decreases negative attitudes, and increases supportive behaviors toward individuals with mental health problems.

MHFA is not just for leaders and managers. According to the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, more than 2.6 million people across the United States have been trained in MHFA by a dedicated base of more than 15,000 instructors. Offering MHFA training to all employees equips your entire organization with mental health knowledge and fosters empathy and understanding.

Research suggests there is a relationship between equity, diversity, inclusion (EDI), and organizational healthopens in new window. Fostering a welcoming and inclusive workplace helps employees feel a sense of belonging and contributes to a healthy work culture. Taking a multifaceted approach that engages employees across your organization reaffirms your organization’s commitment to EDI while supporting employee well-being.

You can start by using inclusive terminology. Words matter. Psychological science shows that the language people use is critically important as individuals strive to create a more equitable, diverse, and inclusive world. In an effort to build a common vocabulary, APA introduced the inclusive language guidelines, a place to find the most relevant language to use when communicating about EDI. This resource is available publicly to all organizations.

Employee resource groups (ERG) create a space for underrepresented employees to find one another, share common experiences, and seek advice. Typically organized around a shared identity, such as race, gender, or age, ERGs are a powerful addition to the workplace with many benefits to the organization, including creating greater inclusivity and higher retention of employees.

Recognize and celebrate a variety of identities. Include important cultural and religious days in your organization’s shared calendar. Be mindful of scheduling meetings, deadlines, and events on these days, even if they only impact some employees. Kazoohr.com provides a good starting point of dates to skip when scheduling meetings or events.

Be aware of unconscious bias in your organization and educate your entire team in the importance of EDI initiatives. Survey data show unconscious bias trainingopens in new window can be an effective way to improve team members’ mindsets about the importance of EDI. When you’re training team members about issues that might incite defensiveness, be aware of communication methods that support attitude changes. Some experts say that sharing messaging that explains we all have unconscious biasesopens in new window helps learners to avoid becoming defensive and rejecting the training.

Regularly reviewing your organization’s hiring practices and ensuring equitable pay supports EDI and contributes to job satisfaction.

Finally, make sure your efforts are sustainable by promoting team buy-in. People may be more receptive to EDI initiatives when they know it’s a long-term investment in your organization.

Productivity is more complex than logging as many hours as possible. Encouraging employees to carve out time for their well-being not only protects their mental health but can also improve job performance. For example, workers who take short breaks throughout the day are more productive, have fewer health issues, and suffer lower rates of burnout (Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 101, No. 2, 2016).

If employees feel they’ll be reprimanded for missing work, they may continue working when they feel unwell, which is known as presenteeism. Presenteeismopens in new window, in multiple studies, is associated with worse health (and higher health care costs) and lower productivity than if the employee had taken appropriate time off work.

Creating a culture where workers have access to paid time off—and, just as important, feel encouraged to take it—helps with psychological recovery, which can enhance job performance later. APA’s 2018 Work and Well-Being Survey found that taking time off helps workers recover from stress and experience positive effects that improve their well-being and job performance, but for nearly two-thirds of working adults, the benefits of time away dissipate within a few days. The number of emails and impending workload people face postvacation can make employees regret taking time off.

Company-wide mental health days, even if your organization has a generous PTO benefit, are an opportunity for the entire organization to unplug on the same day and for employees to truly focus on their well-being, not having to worry about catching up the following day. It’s important for the CEO to communicate to all staff that the mental health day will only be effective if no one works or sends emails that day.

Another way to encourage self-care is by separating paid vacation days from paid sick time. According to 2021 data from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), 35% of workers have not used paid time off for rest and relaxation since the start of the pandemic. Employees may hesitate to take days off for mental health if they’re saving them for vacation or hesitate to plan more days off if they’re worried about needing sick days in the future.

Employees who worry about being perceived as less committed may not take vacations as readily. Encourage the use of vacation leave by taking time off yourself and encouraging managers to do the same.

When you’re off the clock, lead by example. Research on telepressure has found that when leaders send emails outside normal hours, employees follow suit—even to the detriment of their well-being. Be wary of sending emails outside working hours and on vacation or sick time and clarify ahead of time with your organization what warrants a true business necessity for emailing outside of these windows. If you do need to send emails outside of hours, use the delayed send function in Outlook so your employees do not feel pressure to respond outside of work hours.

With any occupational health intervention, good evaluation design is as important as the right strategies. Establish a baseline by surveying employees before you launch new programs, and be sure to implement tools for measuring progress, such as further employee surveys and focus groups.

Keep channels of both bottom-up and top-down communication open, whether via email, Slack, or Microsoft Teams, ongoing staff conversations with leadership, and/or an employee intranet, and create channels for your managers to regularly share feedback.

Just as important, make changes if you aren’t seeing positive results and as staff needs evolve. Your employees are the heartbeat of your organization, and your best resource for understanding how to improve the well-being of your business.